Summit vs Hanover Park 10/25/2002
 1st2nd3rd4thTOTAL
Summit01414634
Hanover Park7661332

What an exciting victory. It is hard to know how to begin. The hopes of the Summit fans took a big hit when Hanover Park, down by 9 midway in the 4th quarter, scored on 2 successive possessions to take a 32-28 lead with only 2:44 left in the game. Hanover Park's kickoff sailed into the end zone so Summit had to start on their 20 yard line with only 164 seconds and 2 time outs left. A Robbie Schroeder pass to Tony Johnson covered 16 yards to the 36. A pair of incomplete passes made it 3rd and 10. Schroeder hit Dwight Reid at the sideline for 12 yards and a new 1st down at Summit's 48 yard line. Three incomplete passes left Summit with a 4th and 10, all or nothing situation. Again Schroeder connected with Reid for another 1st down. A powerful run by Jeff Della Piazza picked up 15 yards and a 1st down at the Hanover Park 29. A 7 yard pass to Steve Kohut and 13 yard gain by Dell Piazza gave Summit a 1st down at the 9. A sack and short run left the ball on the 10 with the clock running and 15 seconds left
Game Statistics Summit Hanover Park
First Downs 10 15
Rushes 33 13
Rushing Yards 137 58
Pass Attempts 23 37
Completions 9 22
Interceptions 1 2
Passing Yards 133 289
Other Yards -7 -4
Total Yards 263 343
Return Yards 131 120
Penalty Yards 75 15
Fumbles 3 3
Fumbles Lost 0 3
. Summit tried a half back pass from Johnson to Schroeder
Scoring Sequence
1st Quarter
HP 1 yd run, kick
2nd Quarter
S-Schroeder 1 yd run, Gruetzmacher kick
S-Johnson 4 yd run, Gruetzmacher kick
HP- 1yd run, kick failed
3rd Quarter
HP-33 yd pass, run failed
S-Dwayne Reid 51 yd pass,Gruetzmacher kick
S-Dolny 6 yd pass,Gruetzmacher kick
4th Quarter
HP-12 yd pass, kick good
HP-30 yd pass, pass failed
S-Della Piazza 5 yd pass
but it fell incomplete. However, Hanover Park was called for interference and Summit got another chance from the 5 with only 2.5 seconds on the clock. As the clock ran out, Schroeder hit Della Piazza on a middle screen pass at the 5 and Jeff bulled his way into the end zone for the winning score. As you can imagine pandemonium broke out on the field and in Summit stands.

Hanover Park scored on their 1st possession utilizing 6 consecutive passes to go 62 yards to Summit's 1 where they scored on a run. On their next possession the were again on the move when a fumble stopped the drive on Summit's 34. Summit was forced to punt and on Hanover Park's next play Brad Dolny intercepted a pass at HP's 40 and returned it to the 5 yard line. Two runs by Della Piazza and a QB sneak got it into the end zone. Freshman kicker Will Gruetzmacher, replacing the ill Evan Cheng, kicked the first of his 4 extra points.

HP's next drive was again terminated by a turnover as Chris Dean scooped up a fumble and hauled it 31 yards to the HP 19. Summit eventually turned it back to HP on downs at their 18. On the next Summit Possession the Hilltoppers drove 63 yards in 11 plays behind the running of Johnson and Della Piazza. The drive also included a pass to each of them. That put Summit ahead 14-7 with a couple on minutes left in the half. Starting on their 25, HP completed 3 passes to get to Summit's 32. As has happened so often this year an unsportsmanlike conduct call moved the ball to the 17. A 16 yard pass and a dive over the center gave HP a TD as the half ended. Their PAT was no good and Summit remained ahead 14-13.

The 2nd half began badly. HP ran the kickoff back 57 yards to the Summit 33. On the first play HP connected with a wide open receiver in the end zone. The PAT failed, but Summit was down 19-14. Hanover Park's two failed PATs would eventually be the difference in the game. Summit regained the lead on its next possession. Runs by Della Piazza and Johnson got the ball to the 49 where Schroeder hit Dwayne Reid for a 51 yard TD. Undaunted HP went to the air again and got to Summit's 40 when Pierce Talbot intercepted a pass and returned it to HP's 11 yard line. Three plays later a pass to Dolny gave Summit a 28-19 lead.

The 4th quarter began with an exchange of punts that gave Summit the ball on their 17 . Three plays later, and a holding penalty, it was 4th and 21 from the 6. After the punt HP had great field position on Summit's 33. After a couple of runs got nowhere HP went back to the air covering the final 30 yards in 2 throws. Now it was 28-26 with about 5 minutes left in the game. Following the kick off Summit' offense stalled and we were forced to punt, giving HP the ball on our 46 with 3 1/2 minutes to go. On the 2nd pass of the series the ball was tipped and intercepted by Summit, seemingly ending HP's chances. Unfortunately, a very suspect interference call by a referee far away from the action gave HP a 1st down on Summit's 30. One more pass and HP was on top 32-28 with 2:44 remaining. Needless to say their was real depression in the Summit stands and a bit of anger over the interference call. However, all this set the improbable and exciting conclusion.


Individual Statistics
RUSHING
Jeff Della Piazza 21-104, Tony Johnson 7-28, Robbie Schroeder 4-3, Daryl Toney 1-2,
PASSING
Robbie Schroeder 22-9-1-133 3 TDs,
RECEIVING
Dwayne Reid 1-51, Tony Johnson 2-33, Dwight Reid 2-20, Jeff Della Piazza 2-16, Steve Kohut 1-7, Brad Dolny 1-6,
RETURNS
Dwight Reid 4-56, Pierce Talbot 1-44, Brad Dolny 1-35, Chris Dean 1-31,
PUNTING
Jeff Della Piazza 6-25.7,
INTERCEPTIONS
Brad Dolny 1, Pierce Talbot 1