The Observer, November 16, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 11
Football Playoffs: Spartans defeat Widener for first-round win
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Thank God the world's leading heart center is five minutes away.
Down 20-15 with only 87 seconds to save their season, sophomore quarterback Dan Whalen moved the Spartans down the field on a 14-play, 73-yard drive that was topped off by Jeff Mayer's 7-yard touchdown catch on fourth down. The ball was just inches beyond the plane of the goal line and there were only two seconds left on the clock.
"Dan (Whalen)'s been in that kind of situation before and he really responds to it," said coach Greg Debeljak. "This team is really close and the kids are self-motivators. They knew what they had to do."
Still, the Spartans had to execute against a tough Widener defense that came into today's game with the 10th best turnover margin in the nation. Case's offensive unit was at its best with their backs against the wall, converting three fourth-and-longs to keep the drive going.
"We knew there was enough time with two timeouts left so we could take it in chunks and take what they gave us," Whalen said
For most of the game, the Pride wasn't giving much and led for the first 52 minutes.
Widener struck first with a 39-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Campbell to wide receiver Mike Falkenstein to put Widener up 7-0.
The Spartans did not respond until the second quarter. The scoring drive began on Case's 20 yard line as Whalen led the offense down the field to the 7 yard line. But the Spartans couldn't get the ball into the end zone. After Whalen was forced to throw the ball away on two consecutive downs, Sam Coffey drilled a 24-yard field goal to draw the Spartans to within four.
Later in the quarter, the Spartans again drove deep into Pride territory. This time, they came away with nothing. The Spartans moved the ball to the 4 yard line when Whalen lost his grip on the ball while fleeing the pocket. Widener's Keith Wilson pounced on the loose ball. It could have been worse for Case; pinned deep in their own territory, the Pride wasn't able to convert the turnover into points.
But turnovers soon proved costly for the Spartans. With 2:15 to go in the third quarter, Whalen was picked off by John Martorell, who cruised 21 yards for a touchdown.
"What did we get, a touchdown [off of turnovers]?" said the Pride's head coach, David Wood. "We needed more offensive points."
At the time, up 14-3 and with Widener shutting down the Spartans' offense, it looked like Wood's team didn't even need Martorell's interception. What no one saw coming was the most memorable fourth quarter in Case football history.
The scoring started with 11 minutes left in the game. Sophomore running back Corey Checkan's 2-yard run finished off a 14-play, 72-yard drive. The Spartans kept the ball on the ground for much of the drive, taking six minutes off the clock and bringing the Blue and White to within five points after a failed two-point conversion.
Case scored on the first play of their next possession. Whalen threw a 97-yard strike to his high school teammate Shaun Nicely. Nicely's catch was the longest play from scrimmage in school history and it put the Spartans ahead, 15-14. "I thought I was going to get caught," said Nicely.
The Pride would answer back on their next drive. Widener marched down the field 50 yards and an Ian Decker 1-yard touchdown run gave his team a 20-15 lead with 1:27 remaining. A Campbell incompletion on the two-point conversion that followed proved critical.
Part of the reason that the Spartans' last-second victory was so surprising was that during the regular season, Widener was 5-0 when leading after the third quarter and outscored their opponents 89-57 in the second half.
"It came down to us not executing in the final three minutes," said Wood. "I give them [Case] all the credit. They don't quit."
The key for the Spartans may have been that they didn't put pressure on themselves. They'd already accomplished their goals for the season: winning the conference and going undefeated.
"We just believed right from the get-go," said offensive lineman Tommy Zagorski. "They came in strutting like they owned the place and we sent them on a long bus ride home."
With the win, the Spartans improve to 11-0 on the year and will host Wabash College next weekend at Case Field at noon in the second round of the playoffs.
