The St. Charles Cardinals and Lively Hawks presented virtual mirror images of each other entering their junior football semi-final on Monday.
The defending champion Cardinals cruised through their four game regular season, posting an unblemished mark of 4-0 and outscoring their opponents 153-38, including a 34-6 win over Lively on Oct. 18.
By contrast, the Hawks finished at 1-3, recording just 40 points in four games while surrendering 133. On paper, this match should have been no contest.
Somebody forgot to inform the Lively crew of that small fact. Surprising the Cardinals to the tune of an 18-0 first half lead, the underdogs upset St. Charles 18-15, as running back Steven Head scored on a pair of long runs, and Eamon Dolphin hauled in a TD pass from QB Lucas Howland.
The Cards made a game of it in the second half, as pivot Liam Cousineau darted to the end zone, and connected with receiver Liam Nelson late, leading to an unsuccessful short kickoff attempt by St Charles.
The Hawks will now meet the St. Benedict Bears in the championship final on Saturday afternoon, as coach Junior Labrosse and company felled the second place Lo-Ellen Park Knights (3-1) with a 21-7 win.
The Bears opened the scoring as Eric Huneault and Brady Chisnell connected on a 79-yard pass and run, but the Knights countered on the last play of the first quarter, with Brodie Erwin muscling his way in from the two.
Running back Ben Larsen bolted 70 yards four minutes later for what would stand as the game-winning score, while Huneault added a little insurance, recording a two yard touchdown run midway through quarter four.
