A season that included a fair share of heartbreak for St. Laurence ended up on the other side of the emotional scale Friday afternoon.
Senior safety Brandon Wilson stuffed Simeon’s two-point conversion attempt with 1:51 left, paving the way for the host Vikings’ 35-34 victory over Simeon in the Prep Bowl.
Junior Nate Thomas, who sported a custom-made “NATE THE GREAT” baseball cap in the postgame celebration, ran 27 times for 180 yards and three touchdowns for St. Laurence (8-5).
Brailyn Johnson and quarterback Darius Wilson also rushed for touchdowns for the Vikings, who were 0-for-2 passing.
“We had some absolutely backbreaking losses [to] JCA and Providence,” first-year St. Laurence coach Adam Nissen said. “To see us come out on top in the last game of the year is huge.”
Those two losses were by one point, and the Vikings also lost by four to Benet and by three to Hillcrest in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.
After that defeat, Nissen said, “we took a couple of days to refocus” for the Prep Bowl playoffs.
“It’s gotten the rap that it doesn’t count,” he said of the bracket matching the top teams from the Catholic League/East Suburban Catholic Conference and Public League not in the state playoffs.
“Obviously, we’d rather be in the IHSA playoffs,” Nissen said. “But the seniors did a real good job of getting this team focused and ready to go.”
That showed when Simeon (9-3), which always goes for two after touchdowns, closed to 35-34 on Chau Smith’s 14-yard touchdown run.
Nissen called a timeout before the conversion and gathered his defensive players together.
“We told them what [Simeon] ran on their other two-point conversions,” he said. “At that point, it’s just a battle of wills. You stop them, you win the game; you don’t, you lose.”
Wilson stopped Simeon quarterback Jacquez Woodland behind the line of scrimmage with help from linebacker Will Waters. The Vikings ran out the clock to improve to 5-0 all time in the Prep Bowl.
“They’d been doing the same [conversion] plays the whole game, and we adjusted,” Wilson said. “They ran opposite of their strengths, came to my side, and I just made the play.”
Thomas was watching anxiously from the sideline.
“I saw them wrap [Woodland] up, then I saw his head go up for a pass, and I’m [thinking], ‘Oh, no,’ ” Thomas said. “Then I see [Wilson] tackle him, and I was so excited. We knew the game was in our hands, for sure.”
That also seemed to be the case in the second quarter, when St. Laurence opened up a 21-8 lead on touchdown runs by Thomas (17 yards), Wilson (one yard) and Johnson (75 yards).
But Simeon rallied behind Woodland, who passed for 162 yards and a touchdown and ran for 183 yards and two TDs. Smith also ran for two touchdowns, including a five-yarder that put the Wolverines up 22-21 with 6:41 left in the third quarter.
“It’s our resilience,” Wolverines coach Dante Culbreath said. “We never give up. . . . We always feel like we have a shot.”
Thomas’ 14-yard touchdown put the Vikings up 28-22 at 2:35 of the third, but Simeon tied it at 28 on Woodland’s 58-yard score with 16 seconds left in the quarter.
Thomas came out of the game early in the fourth quarter with cramps in both legs.
“I tried to get up, and my calves wouldn’t let me,” he said.
But after some stretching on the sideline, the 5-10, 200-pounder returned in time to burst up the middle for an eight-yard touchdown with 2:25 left that put St. Laurence ahead to stay.
“You saw today that [Thomas is] the real deal,” Nissen said. “When we need two or three yards, we’re going to No. 28 [Thomas].”
