Lincoln-Way East’s Braden Tischer has a good memory.
The junior quarterback watched the wild NFL game last Sunday between the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings, with Josh Allen fumbling the ball away on his own 1-yard line.
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Tischer remembered that play Saturday when the Griffins had the ball at their own half-yard line against a Glenbard West defense that loves to capitalize on those situations.
“You saw that Buffalo Bills game and they dropped a snap,” Tischer said. “You don’t want to fumble when your back is against the wall. You don’t want to fumble there.
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“You want to take care of the football. It’s the most important thing.”
Tischer took care of business with 4:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, running into the pile and hoping to gain a few yards of cushion while holding safely onto the football.
Instead, Tischer finished off a 99-yard touchdown run to put a huge exclamation point on a 31-7 victory over the Hilltoppers in a Class 8A state semifinal game in Frankfort.
The Griffins (13-0) will face playoff archrival Loyola (12-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the championship game at the University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium in Champaign.
Even before the exciting run, Tischer had completed 10 of 15 passes for 165 yards and a pair of TDs to senior receiver Jimmy Curtin for 19 and 57 yards, respectively.
That run, though, looked like Houdini pulling off a magic trick. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Tischer escaped the scrum, sped down a snowy, slippery field and avoided a tackler.
All without a hitch.
“Once I got the snap, everyone converged in and pushed,” Tischer said. “And with my height — I’m a shorter quarterback — I used it to my advantage because they couldn’t see me.
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“I pushed and it opened up, and I sprinted as hard as I could.”
Tischer then credited his offensive line, especially center Josh Janowski’s pancake block of an opponent, for opening up the hole.
“A 99-yard run in general is hard,” Tischer said. “And doing it with a quarterback sneak that usually goes for what, two or three yards at most … that’s a pretty sick play.”
On defense, junior defensive back Stephon Gist-Gardner had two interceptions in the end zone and tag teamed with senior linebacker Jake Scianna to stop Glenbard West (11-2) at the 1 to set up Tischer’s run.
“My favorite play of the three was the play at the 1-yard line,” Gist-Gardner said. “That play meant everything. That gave us more momentum, and it allowed our quarterback to go and score.”
Gist-Gardner said he had played on offense until being asked to work on the other side of the ball.
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“At first, I was second guessing it,” he said. “But coach said to go do it and make it happen. It turned out well.”
Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar praised Gist-Gardner for making the move.
“We had a stable of offensive skill players this year,” Zvonar said. “We had a need in our secondary and asked him to give it a shot. It’s working out well for him.
“He’s one of seven juniors on defense that have been doing well.”
Gist-Gardner talked about the weather and conditions.
“It was terrible,” he said. “We were slipping and sliding.”
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In other words, he enjoyed it.
“Loved it — loved it,” he said. “That was football weather.”
James Kwiecinski also scored a touchdown and Carter Nair kicked a 42-yard field goal for the Griffins.
This will be the fifth appearance in the state championship game for Lincoln-Way East.
The Griffins have won three state titles and finished second once, a 10-8 loss in 2012 to Glenbard West in Class 7A. And they also remember last season.
“Loyola beat us in the quarterfinals last year,” Tischer said of a 3-0 loss in 2021. “We’re coming with everything we’ve got.”
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Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.