With all the confidence in the world, St. Charles Catholic sophomore kicker Tyler Milioto’s walk-off game-winning field goal from 23 yards out lifted the Comets over University Lab to send the two-time defending state champion Comets back to the state championship.
With the win, the Comets will advance to the Division III (Select) state championship game where they will face another team loaded with talent in Calvary Baptist on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3:30 p.m. It is the fifth straight state championship appearance for the Comets.
Coming into the semifinals, U-High averaged 55.6 points per game. However, St.Charles Catholic’s defense stifled the Cubs’ offense to just seven points and only allowed a touchdown in the final two minutes of regulation.
Although it was a complete effort by the St. Charles Catholic defense, All-State senior linebacker Kyle Cannon was the one who stood out the most as he was either the one making the play or was in the area. Cannon had 17 tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, two tackles for a loss and also had a pass breakup.
Because of the defensive prowess of both teams, the game was scoreless for the first 23 minutes of the game. However, points were finally put on the scoreboard when St. Charles senior running back Jeramiah Wills beat the U-High defense to the corner of the endzone to score on a nine-yard sweep to make the score 7-0 with just 53 seconds remaining in the first half.
Before Wills scored, the closest to points being put on the board was when U-High got to St. Charles’ 3-yard line. However, Picarella mishandled the snap, allowing the Comets to get the ball back.
Despite struggling to get a breakthrough for most of the game, U-High finally got one when senior defensive end Laramie Guidry blocked a field goal late in the fourth quarter that would have put the game out of reach for the Cubs.
The Cubs drove down the field with efficiency and nothing to lose. They capped off their 13-play 74-yard drive with a Picarella touchdown pass to wide receiver Granville Anderson from four yards out to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:27 left to go in the game, effectively sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, U-High got the ball first at the 10-yard line but failed to score after a fumbled snap sent the Cubs back to the 16-yard line and an incomplete pass on third down that was caused by Cannon hitting Picarella.
U-High had to settle for a field goal that would have given the Cubs the lead for the first time in the game but it was blocked by St. Charles senior defensive back Kayden Cambre. Although St. Charles failed to score a touchdown on their drive, all they had to do was kick the field goal on fourth down to win the game.
The good thing for St. Charles was that Milioto was in familiar territory as he made the game-winning last-second field goal in the Comets’ 16-14 win over defending Division II (Non-Select) state champion Lutcher. Milioto was as cool as the other side of the pillow and booted the 23-yard field goal with his team mobbing him at midfield and the U-High sideline in disbelief.
In overtime, U-High got the ball first at the 10-yard line but failed to score after a fumbled snap sent the Cubs back to the 16-yard line and an incomplete pass on third down that was caused by Cannon hitting Picarella.
U-High had to settle for a field goal that would have given the Cubs the lead for the first time in the game but it was blocked by St. Charles senior defensive back Kayden Cambre. Although St. Charles failed to score a touchdown on their drive, all they had to do was kick the field goal on fourth down to win the game.
The good thing for St. Charles was that Milioto was in familiar territory as he made the game-winning last-second field goal in the Comets’ 16-14 win over defending Division II (Non-Select) state champion Lutcher. Milioto was as cool as the other side of the pillow and booted the 23-yard field goal with his team mobbing him at midfield and the U-High sideline in disbelief.
