Red Devils Hold Off Redskins in OT
by Chris Yucus (BCR) and Jared Bell (NewsTrib)
September 04, 2010
Hall “Chases” down OT win
By Chris Yucus - cyucus@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY - It only took two plays for Hall junior linebacker/tight end Chase Miller to go from goat to hero.
After being called out in the film room during the week for defensive lapses in the Red Devils’ season-opening loss to Winnebago, Miller made good Friday night at Nesti Stadium.
Miller’s 9-yard touchdown reception in overtime helped put Hall up 7-0. And after a one-yard keeper from Redskins quarterback Seth Stevenson brought Momence within a single point, Miller struck again, batting down a pass in the flats on the 2-point conversion attempt to give his Red Devils the 7-6 win.
“He was kind of the goat in films last week, he had a pretty rough game against Winnebago to say the least,” said Hall coach Jason Bland. “And he redeemed himself tonight.”
Miller said that of the two big plays, the most memorable was the final deflection.
“I was looking at the stands and it was amazing,” said Miller of the hometown response to his game ending pass defense.
After playing regulation to a scoreless tie, the Red Devils found themselves facing a third and goal from the nine in their overtime series. Senior quarterback Anthony Urbanski scrambled to the right sideline under chase from the Momence defense. Miller broke off his corner route after drawing some tight coverage, and headed for the middle of the endzone where he waved to Urbanski, who delivered the ball spot-on for the score.
The 9-yard connection was Urbanski’s first completion of the evening, after struggling early, going 0-6 with 3 interceptions in regulation.
“It was open and he just threw a perfect pass and we connected,” said Miller. “I’ve had touchdowns before, but nothing that meant that much.”
After scoring their touchdown in overtime, Momence coach Joe Kubal elected to go for two, and kept that decision even after a costly delay of game penalty backed up the Redskins five yards.
“Our kicking game is not the best. I had it in my mind that we were going to go for the win,” said Kubal, who credited Miller with reading and breaking up the final play.
“We had too many opportunities in the game, and we just didn’t capitalize,” said Kubal. “Three times inside the redzone, two times inside the 10-yard line, and we didn’t get the ball in the endzone, that’s just not like us.”
The Red Devils defense limited the wide-open spread offense of Momence to 215 yards of total offense, 98 on the ground and 117 in the air. Stevenson finished 12-30 with a pair of picks, both from Hall senior defensive back Ricky Gaeta. The Red Devils managed 179 yards of offense, led by junior Jeremy King who rushed 14 times for 60 yards, while senior Bryce Quinn tallied 15 carries for 48 yards.
“It’s huge,” said Bland of the win, which evens the Red Devils to 1-1 on the season. “Starting off 0-2 would be terrible.”
“I think everybody got their money’s worth,” said Bland of the exciting culmination to the contest.
Miller redeems himself with big plays
Saturday, September 04, 2010
By Jared Bell
Chase Miller went from goat to glory in one week. After struggling in Hall’s Week 1 loss at Winnebago and hearing about it during film session, Miller made up for it Friday against Momence. The Red Devils’ junior split end and linebacker caught the go-ahead touchdown in overtime and then made the game-winning pass deflection on a Momence two-point conversion to seal Hall’s 7-6 overtime victory.
“The guy that really made up for things was Chase Miller, who was kind of a goat in films last week,” Hall coach Jason Bland said. “He had a pretty rough game against Winnebago, to say the least, and he redeemed himself tonight.”
Redemption couldn’t have come at a better time. “It’s a great feeling,” Miller said. “It really is.” The Red Devils (1-1) had possession first in overtime and, starting from the 10-yard line, managed to gain just a yard on their first two plays to set up a third-and-goal from the 9. Hall quarterback Anthony Urbanski rolled out on the pass play but found no open receiver as he sprinted toward the Hall sideline. Knowing he needed to make a play, Urbanski held up near the sideline, bought a few second and threw an off-balance, back-foot, fading-away passing to Miller. Wide open in the end zone, Miller caught the game’s first touchdown to give Hall the lead. Red Devil place kicker Tanner McCormick converted on the PAT kick to give the Red Devils a 7-0 lead.
It was Urbanski’s only completion of the game. “I was supposed to run a corner route, and Anthony was scrambling and they had me covered, so I tried to move toward the middle of the field where it was open,” Miller said. “(Anthony) just threw a perfect pass and we connected. I waved. He saw me and threw the ball.” After the score, Momence (1-1) received its overtime possession at the 10-yard line. Redskin quarterback Seth Stevenson snuck into the end zone on a third-and-goal from the 1 to pull Momence to 7-6.
Instead of attempting the game-tying PAT kick, Momence coach Joe Kubal opted for the two-point conversion and the win. “Our kicking game isn’t the best, and I had it in my mind that we were going to go for the win,” he said.
Before Momence could get off the play from the 3, the Redskins were called for a delay of game. In the shotgun, Stevenson looked right before turning back left and dumping off a screen pass intended for running back Anthony Works. However, Miller read the play and deflected the pass, sending the ball to the ground and allowing the Hall bench to erupt after its first win of the season.“I saw the running back pulling off and I saw the quarterback’s eyes,” Miller said. “I just did what I was supposed to do.”
Which was stay home, make the read and come up with a play.
“(After the penalty) I thought we still had a pretty good play call, but the outside linebacker did a good job, read it, and if he doesn’t ready it I think Anthony (Works) walks into the end zone,” Kubal said. So which of the two plays meant more to Miller?
“I think it was the deflection,” he said. “I was just looking at the stands and it was amazing.” The pass breakup completed a solid game for the Hall defense, which allowed 34 points last week to Winnebago and also received plenty to think about in film sessions.
Friday, the unit held Momence to 226 yards of total offense and, after Momence scored two touchdowns over 80 yards in Week 1, allowed just two plays of more than 15 yards.
Senior defensive back Ricky Gaeta had two interceptions and nearly made a third.
“I have got to hand it to the guys,” Bland said. “…It’s just breaking down, knowing where your help is and boxing guys in and not letting them take off.”
The Hall defense bent but didn’t break when backed up against its goal line. Twice in the third quarter Momence had possession within Hall’s 10-yard line and didn’t score.
“We had too many opportunities in the game where we just didn’t capitalize,” Kubal said. “We had it three times inside the red zone and two times inside the 10-yard line, and we didn’t get the ball in the end zone. That’s not like us.”
