The Patriots held on to win a close victory against the Libertyville Wildcats, gaining a home playoff game and finishing with a 7-2 record on the season. Thanks to the strong fourth quarter offense, the Patriots went on to win 35-28 in the final minute of play.

The Patriots offense was fantastic almost all night, scoring five touchdowns. Running back Frank Costabile ’26 finished with 176 yards on 22 carries, and quarterback Aidan Crawley ’26 threw for 246 yards. Other notable athletes, such as wide receiver Armand Burris ’24 and tight end Zachary Becker ’26, helped the Patriots secure the victory.

Stevenson opened the scoring with a bang after running back Christopher Thorndyke ’25 took the opening kickoff 98 yards into the end zone to make the score 7-0 only 19 seconds into the contest. Stevenson lineman Luke Nelson ’25 says the opening drive is what set the tone of the offensive momentum throughout the night.

“I mean, it doesn’t get much better than that,” Nelson said.

Opening the second quarter, Crawley pushed through the Libertyville defense to score the third touchdown of the night for the Patriots, making it 21-7. Libertyville scored once more in the half after Libertyville quarterback Quinn Schambow connected with wide receiver Stevan Gavric to put the score at 21-14 going into halftime.

During a rather quiet first half of the third quarter, Libertyville tied the game with a seven yard touchdown rush into the end zone by Gavin Dixon. Knotted at 21 all, the Patriots wasted no time on the following possession as Crawley connected with Burris deep down the field for a 58 yard touchdown pass to regain the lead. The teams were now in a heated back-and-forth battle heading into the back end of the contest.

After yet another 50 yard play from Libertyville QB Schambow, the score was tied once again at 28-28 to close out the third quarter. The Patriots were gearing up for an intense final quarter to make or break their hopes of a home playoff berth.

With just over 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the game was still tied, credited to some phenomenal defense from both sides. However, the Wildcats were unable to score once again and were forced to punt on fourth down giving Stevenson one final opportunity to emerge victorious.

Crawley launched a ball to tight end Kendrick Kenning ’24 for a crucial 32 yard reception, setting the Patriots up for success with just above a minute left. Finally, Crawley connected with a wide open Becker, who jogged into the end zone for the winning touchdown to cap off the game at 35-28.

With the first home playoff game in nearly a decade, the players are extremely excited and confident, but they understand some improvements must be made in order to win. Burris believes they need to continue driving the offense throughout the game to maintain momentum.

“We just need to come out the gate and keep pushing it,” Burris said. I don’t think we have many mistakes, but we need to keep pushing the offense down throughout the game.”

All in all, the regular season got closed out with yet again another victory, the Patriots’ fifth in a row. To the team though, it’s even more special that it came against the cross-town rivals.

“Coming as our last regular season game of our high school careers, we really wanted to finish this off with a blast, especially against our hometown rivals,” Burris said. “It couldn’t have been better.”

As the Patriots prepare for the playoffs to head underway, the locker room morale continues to stay positive heading into the playoffs. They return next Friday in the playoffs against Lyons Township at home.

“Hey man, we’re bringing it back home for the playoffs,” Kenning said.