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PERU — Some people actually left Howard Fellows Stadium very early Friday, some at halftime, some a bit later.
They missed what became the best game in the recent history of a great rivalry led by one of the rivalry's all-time great performances.
Ottawa stormed back from a 21-point halftime deficit to tie La Salle-Peru early in the fourth quarter. That was enough time for Cavaliers quarterback Kennedy Carey to finish making his mark on the rivalry.
Carey threw the final of his three touchdown passes with 50 seconds left as the Cavaliers stunned the Pirates 44-36 in the highest-scoring game in the long-time history of the rivalry.
Carey was simply astounding, completing 15-of-20 for 243 yards and his three scores, two of which came in the fourth quarter as he allowed his Cavaliers to hold off the hard-charging Pirates for the first time on the field since 2004.
"Kennedy played just phenomenal," said L-P coach Jose Medina. "When he has the time back there, he sits back there and just picks you apart. And he's got some good receivers to throw to as well. It was just an amazing performance from that young man."
What actually helped make that performance even more impressive was how the game went and how the Pirates (4-3, 1-2) stormed back after appearing to be in a huge heap of trouble.
A 25-yard scoring run from Hunter Holdcraft just 91 seconds into the game, a huge 80-yard interception return for a touchdown and nine straight completions to finish the half from Carey — the last being a 41-yard scoring strike to Jake Doyle — allowed La Salle-Peru to take a convincing 28-7 halftime lead.
Going into the locker room, it was all L-P. Coming out though, it was all Ottawa.
The Pirates made a major statement with a running game led by Adam Poundstone and Karter Lowery. Ottawa went 65 yards in just seven plays to make it 28-13, the last of which was a 10-yard run from Lowery. He finished the day with 60 tough yards on 10 carries.
Then, after a huge fourth-down stop by the defense, OTHS went 64 yards in six plays, the last of which was a 15-yard run from Tom Scully that pulled Ottawa to within 28-20 with 3:28 left in the third.
The defense again came to life with a big three-and-out, setting the wheels in motion for an offense that L-P — which just one week earlier blew a 12-point halftime lead to Rochelle in a loss — just couldn't slow down. Aided by two big personal foul penalties, one of which came on fourth down and kept the drive alive, Ottawa marched 70 yards in 13 plays, the last being a three-yard run from Poundstone.
Poundstone followed up by running in the two-point conversion to tie the game at 28 with 7:40 left to play. It was the last carry of the game for Poundstone, who wound up with 131 yards on 16 carries.
"Defensively, we started to tackle better," said OTHS coach Trent Swords about his team's ability to charge back. "In the first half, we were bouncing off their running backs and their wide receivers. Offensively, when we had those second half scoring drives, we didn't have the negative plays that put us behind the chains or in long-yardage situations. We had too many of those in the first half.
"We gave ourselves a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, L-P made just one more play than us."
The excitement was far from over. Faced with a second and 17, Carey found Doyle across the middle for a big reception that went for 64 yards and a touchdown. The two-point conversion followed to once again force Ottawa to respond.
The PIrates did just that. A big 26-yard run by Bryce Bilyeu and a 10-yard run from Lowery gave Ottawa first and goal. Sam Holtzman eventually snuck the ball across the goal line before Scully ran in the two-point conversion to once again tie the game at 36 with 3:08 left.
That proved to be just enough time for Carey.
After a big defensive holding penalty on third and six kept the drive alive, Carey completed three straight passes to Uranich, including a 33-yarder and the nail in the coffin, a 28-yard touchdown strike. Carey then ran in the two-point run before L-P's defense came up with a huge sack from Kayne Jenkins on Ottawa's ensuing drive to end a wild game.
Doyle caught six passes for 128 yards while Uranich had six receptions for 101 yards.
"I think (Carey's success) started with the fact they were able to run the ball early in the first half," Swords said. "That puts some pressure on the defense having to guard against that when you have a good quarterback. And then we were in some man and one-on-one situations that he was able to complete some big passes for some big plays. If we make them one-dimensional, they are a little bit easier to stop.
"We didn't play well enough in the first half. We played better in the second half, but it still was not good enough in the second half."
La Salle-Peru 44, Ottawa 36
Ottawa (4-3, 1-2) 7 0 13 16 — 36
La Salle-Peru (3-4, 1-2) 14 14 0 16 — 44
First quarter
L — Holdcraft 25 run (run failed), 10:39, 6-0.
L — Branch 80 interception return (Uranich pass from Carey), 6:42, 14-0.
O — Poundstone 8 run (Schaibley kick), 4:54, 14-7.
Second quarter
L — Waters 12 run (pass failed), 5:59, 20-7.
L — Doyle 41 pass from Carey (Carey run), 1:46, 28-7.
Third quarter
O — Lowery 10 run (kick blocked), 9:33, 28-13.
O — Scully 15 run (Schaibley kick), 3:28, 28-20.
Fourth quarter
O — Poundstone 3 run (Poundstone run), 7:40, 28-28.
L — Doyle 64 pass from Carey (Holdcraft pass from Carey), 6:28, 36-38.
O — Holtzman 1 run (Scully run), 3:08, 36-36.
L — Branch 28 pass from Carey (Carey run), :50, 44-36.
Ott LP
First downs 25 16
Rushes-yards 54-327 20-139
Passing yards 63 243
Total offense 390 382
Comp-Att-Int 5-9-1 15-20-0
Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 12-114 10-85
Punts-Avg. 2-34.0 1-26.0
Time of possession 28:30 18: 30
Individual statistics
Rushing — Ottawa: Poundstone 16-131, Bilyeu 13-76, Lowery 10-60, Holtzman 8-32, Scully 7-28. La Salle-Peru: Holdcraft 4-70, Waters 12-42, Carey 4-9.
Passing — Ottawa: Bilyeu 3-4-0-1-47, Holtzman 2-5-0-0-16. La Salle-Peru: Carey 15-20-3-0-243.
Receiving — Ottawa: R. Bilyeu 2-37, Green 1-10, B. Bilyeu 1-8, Scully 1-8. La Salle-Peru: Doyle 6-128, Uranich 6-101, McManus 1-16, Waters 2-(minus 2).