CARROLLTON - You would be hard pressed to find a better roller-coaster ride of a game anywhere else in the state of Illinois on Saturday afternoon in Carrollton. Or if you’re Hawks head coach Nick Flowers then it would be one of the craziest he’s ever been a part of.
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The Carrollton Hawks came back from a 28-16 fourth quarter deficit against the Madison Trojans and won in thrilling fashion 36-34 in overtime in the IHSA Class 1A first-round playoffs.
“It’s one of the craziest for sure,” Carrollton head coach Nick Flowers said. “This game was definitely not over until it was over. [Madison] made us earn this ballgame today. This playoff stuff never gets old.”
After Madison scored on a 13-yard pass from Rhyheem Samuels to Kameron but failed to convert the extra point, Hunter Flowers hooked up with Byron Holmes on the first play of their series on a 10-yard pass. On the next play, Flowers converted the two-point conversion from the 1-half-yard line to win the game for Carrollton.
“Hunter said, “C’mon coach I’ll get it,” and so here in overtime, Byron made an excellent catch and got in,” Nick Flowers said. “We drew them off sides and made it a bit closer. Hunter dove in with a great lead block from Byron.”
“It’s the best feeling ever,” Holmes said.
Carrollton came into the contest seeded No. 4 and Madison No. 13, and it was the Hawks who got on the board first as Holmes found the end zone on a 5-yard run. However, Carrollton’s offense who came in averaging 41 points per game would face fast, and strong Trojans defense, especially their secondary.
“I don’t think we were playing to our full potential in the first half, even into the third quarter, but they did shock us,” Holmes said. “They have hard hitting kids who are fast and strong.”
“They were really quick and they got to the ball quick,” Hunter Flowers said. We fixed that coming into the second half and everything settled down.”
Despite the Trojan’s athleticism, Flowers still managed to throw for 237 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
“Defensive back wise they’re athletic,” Nick Flowers said. “We would have an open receiver and they closed the gap. We thought we had somebody open a time or two and all of sudden they were on us knocking the ball down.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Hunter Flowers found his cousin Zach Flowers wide open and then got a key block downfield and scored on a 69-yard pass.
“It was just open and it was the right spot at the right time,” Zach Flowers said. I think it changed the momentum of the game.”
Carrollton got the ball back with 3:25 to play and it was their last chance to score. On a fourth down with under two minutes left, Flowers hit Bowker on a 19-yard strike to set the Hawks up inside the 10-yard line and three plays later Holmes caught an 8-yard screen pass and scored to tie things up at 34 with 45 seconds to play. After an offsides on the Trojans, Holmes took a direct snap and it appeared he had crossed the pylon, but the officials ruled him down.
On the following possession, it appeared that Madison was on the verge of winning. On a second down at the 22-yard yard line, Samuels threw a long pass to Carl Moore at midfield and he out-jumped Nathan Walker for the ball. He was in a foot race with Alex Bowker and the Carrollton senior did just enough to force Moore’s right foot to go out of bounds at the 7-yard line with 17 seconds left. Initially, the far side judge ruled the play a touchdown for the Trojans, but the other officials ruled Moore out of bounds.
For all intents and purposes, Bowker saved the Hawks season on that play.
“It’s all thanks to Bowker down on that game-saving tackle,” Hunter Flowers said.
“Alex Bowker has put his heart and soul into Hawk football and that kid pursued and knocked [Moore] out at the [7] yard line,” Nick Flowers said. “Some kids would have given up on that play and he got it done. I’m proud of him.”
Two plays later Madison lined up for a field goal but needed to snap the ball quickly with the play clock running down and with no timeouts plus not everyone set the Hawks blocked the kick to force overtime.
Madison, who was in the midst of their first year of football since the 1988 season finished at 6-4.
“I’m proud of the guys of what they did. We’re going to be alright. There’s no reason to keep our heads down. We came a long way and I’m proud of what we had to the success of the season. We just gotta work hard next year to get a little bit better. Lady Luck was back-and-forth all day,” Madison coach Michael Hill said. “We had a good week of practice and prepared well, but the better team won today and congratulations to them.”
Carrollton will be back at home next week as they rematch the Camp Point Central Panthers who they played this past week in Camp Point.
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