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Kevin
Serna is Interviewed After the Winning Kick
© Suburban Journals of Chicago
photo by Joe Paolella

Dan Peters Sports Editor
Suburban Journals of Chicago
Rolling Meadows loves drama, Wildcats 16-15
by Dan Peters
Friday November 3, 2006. On a night more typical of
December,
Cold with the temperature of 32 degrees, the Rolling Meadows
Mustangs stunned the visiting crowd with one of the most
impressive come from behind victories in recent memory.
The Wildcats, which eliminated Rolling Meadows each of the last
two seasons, were fresh off an impressive 31-13 win over Notre
Dame.
The Mustangs had a seemingly insurmountable challenge of beating
the undefeated Libertyville Wildcats in a Class 7A playoff game
at Rolling Meadows Friday night.
Coming into this game, The high powered Libertyville offense was
expected to be potent and put points on the scoreboard. But
tonight was not the night. The Wildcats ran into a determined
Mustang defense that stunned the Libertyville fans and
electrified the home crowd with the come from behind
victoryC"b,B& advancing the Mustangs to the next round against
another tough opponent, Prospect..
The Mustangs took the lead in the game, 7-3 going into halftime.
The first half was a hard fought defensive struggle with little
offense from either team, not to mention several turnovers by the
Wildcats.
Mustangs quarterback Sabal guided the offense with two deep
passes late in the fourth quarter. A key pass interference call
(one of only a few called in this game) set up a key six yard
touchdown run cutting the score to 15-13. The Mustangs opted for
a two point conversion to tie the game, but that effort failed.
On the ensuing on side kick. The Mustangs recovered the ball with
just 48.7 seconds left. Sable's strong arm and another pass
interference call gave Meadows the ball on the one yard line.
Kevin Serna hit a 19 yard field goal with 0.02 seconds left to
cap a stunning 4th quarter comeback, after the Mustangs trailed
15-7 with less than a minute left in the game. "I was nervous,
but I knew I had to hit it for the seniors" Serna said. "This was
revenge after losing to them the past two years."
Mustangs quarterback Ben Sabal threw for 84 yards and one
touchdown after coming in the game. He was injured two weeks ago
separating his shoulder.. This shows you just how tough and
determined these young players are, giving it all
for their team
in crunch time.
Even Sabal was surprised at the outcome. "I thought we had a
chance." Sabal said. "But honestly, I didn't think it was that
probable. But we never gave up hope."
On the other side of the ball, Libertyville quarterback Ryan
Kennedy threw for 140 yards & scored on a six yard touchdown
run.
Head Coach Doug Millsaps, credited his team on their victory
tonight as a team effort & told his players that they never gave
up. Producing what he said was "The best victory this program has
ever seen."
Ugly wins...
"We had a lot of these games -- not the prettiest," Millsaps
said, "or the fanciest, but we find a way."
Doug Millsaps became head varsity coach at Rolling Meadows in
1998. Prior, Millsaps held head coaching positions at Rockford
Jefferson and Lanark Eastland High Schools. He also served as
offensive coordinator at Benedictine University. Millsaps hails
from Rockford and has been named Conference Coach of the Year
four times in three different conferences.
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