PALATINE – A Devin Parker 31-yard field goal with 48.5 seconds left in regulation sent Edwardsville to the quarterfinals of the IHSA Class 8A Football Championship with a 38-35 win over Palatine Saturday afternoon.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The Parker field goal made the Tigers 8-3 on the year and meant they will host Minooka, who advanced Friday night with a 41-34 overtime win over Barrington, next weekend in the quarters; the Pirates were eliminated at 7-4.
The Tigers grabbed an early lead with a Antonio Thigpen Jr. 1-yard TD plunge; Thigpen also scored from four yards out early in the second to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead after the Pirates' D.J. Angelaccio had hit Johnny O'Shea with a 16-yard touchdown pass late in the quarter, the first of five the duo teamed up for over the course of the game.
Kendall Abdur-Rahman had a pair of TD runs for the Tigers, one from 64 yards out and the other from five yards out in the second period. Dionte Rodgers also scored from five yards out, a score helped set up by a Jalen Cooper interception with 7:43 left to go in the game.
The Angelaccio-O'Shea combo's final score, a 22-yard TD pass with 4:43 left and a two-point conversion, followed by some big plays by the Tigers set up Parker for his late heroics.
The start time and date for next weekend's Minooka-Edwardsville game will be announced by the IHSA Monday afternoon.
