Talk about a nail-biter.
That’s exactly what it was on Oct. 18 for the fans of Lincoln Way West and Lockport High.
Lincoln Way West battled through and came out victorious in a 40-39 double overtime victory against Lockport, in a game that had both teams fans on the edge of their seats all night and qualified the Warriors for the state playoffs.
Lincoln-Way West was coming off a dominating 64-0 win over Champaign Centennial.
The game ended in the second overtime when LWW superstar wide receiver Austin Rowswell delivered a massive blow to the Porters, catching a 2-point conversion pass from Chase Hetfleisch for the 40-39 double-overtime win.
Hetfleisch completed 19 of his 36 pass attempts for 259 yards and ran for a 10-yard touchdown on the first play of the second OT for Lincoln-Way West. Rowswell added six catches for 133 yards and a touchdown.
The Warriors running back duo of Jahan Abubakar and Jimmy Talley combined for a total of 54 yards on 16 rushing attempts. Talley also scored twice.
Ryan Stiglic, Lincoln Way’s star senior DB, recovered a fumble and ran it back for a TD and also broke up a pass play in the end zone on fourth-and-goal.
LWW is now 5-3 on the season. The Warriors, who currently own the No. 19 seed in the 7A playoffs, have an opportunity to improve their playoff seeding when they host Bradley on Senior Night.
