Homewood-Flossmoor, Sean Allen rip through Neuqua Valley

The game had been over for about five minutes, but Sean Allen was still breathing heavy, struggling to get his words out through his huge smile.

“Yes sir, that is a career high, a season high,” Allen said of his gargantuan rushing totals.

The junior running back will need some time to catch his breath after torching Neuqua Valley for 333 yards and four touchdowns. He carried the ball 42 times.

The Vikings knocked off the visiting Wildcats 38-21 in a Class 8A second-round state playoff game.

“That boy is a killer, that is all I can say,” H-F quarterback Dominick Jones said. “He wants it and he goes and gets the job done. If the hole breaks down he will find a way, find a little crease just to make a small play a big play. We just feed him the ball when he’s hot.”

Vikings coach Craig Buzea had a solid game plan: keep Neuqua Valley quarterback Mark Gronowski on the sidelines.

“They are very talented on offense,” Buzea said. “You don’t score 48 points on East St. Louis for nothing. We were very aware of that. They can’t score when they don’t have the ball. We were going to possess it and I think we did a pretty good job. [Gronowski] is not very good when he’s sitting on the bench.”

Homwood-Flossmoor’s Sean Allen (5) breaks into the open for one of his touchdowns against Neuqua Valley. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Homewood-Flossmoor’s William Pauling (6) hangs on to the ball for a long reception despite the defense of Neuqua Valley’s Puneet Singh (14). | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Homewood-Flossmoor’s Dominick Jones (8) carries the ball for a first down against Neuqua Valley. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Homewood-Flossmoor’s Sean Allen takes the Vikings’ first play from scrimmage 80 yards for a touchdown against Neuqua Valley. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Homewood-Flossmoor scores against Neuqua Valley. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Homewood-Flossmoor’s Sean Allen flexes after he scored a touchdown against Neuqua Valley, Flossmoor. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Homewood-Flossmoor’s Sean Allen (5) carries the ball against Neuqua Valley. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Homewood-Flossmoor’s Sean Allen (5) breaks a run for a touchdown against Neuqua Valley. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Neuqua Valley quarterback Mark Gronowski (7) carries the ball against Homewood-Flossmoor,. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Neuqua Valley’s Nick Pastore (5) catches a perfectly thrown ball in stride against Homewood-Flossmoor. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Neuqua Valley’s Mark Gronowski (7) throws a long pass against Homewood-Flossmoor. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Neuqua Valley’s Armani Moreno (28) picks up yardage after catching a pass against Homewood-Flossmoor. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Allen ripped off an 80-yard touchdown run on Homewood-Flossmoor’s first play. He wasn’t touched.

“Our offensive line does a great job,” Allen said. “ had a crease and I just hit it hard. I kept the high knee up, kept my balance and just ran hard.”

But it was Allen’s consistent four and five-yard runs that changed the game.

“We thought the mismatch was our offensive line against their defensive line,” Buzea said. “We usually throw the ball more than that but we knew they weren’t going to score much if we had the ball and didn’t turn it over. That’s exactly how it played out.”

Jones was 5-for-6 passing for 98 yards. Will Pauling caught all five passes.

“We have a great offensive line so we put all our trust in them and our great running back to do their jobs,” Jones said. “It paid off.”

The Vikings (10-1) led 21-14 at halftime and scored the first 17 points of the second half to lead 38-14.

Gronowski was effective when he had the chance, finishing 10-for-17 passing for 124 yards and one interception. He had 12 carries for 115 yards and one touchdown for the Wildcats (9-2).

There were some minor post-game high jinks. Neuqua Valley ended up walking away and there was no handshake line.

“It’s a competitive game,” Jones said. “That’s just the nature of the game talking back and forth here and there.”

Next up for Homewood-Flossmoor is conference foe Lincoln-Way East. The Griffins knocked off H-F earlier this season.

“I’m very anxious,” Jones said. “I haven’t beat them in all four years I’ve been here. I just want to get the job done and go out and get a victory and move on to the next round.”