It was 47 years in the making and this one was truly super.
The referee signals the Barrington touchdown by Joey Gurskis, who celebrates with teammate Tom Sweeney (33) during Friday’s football game against Prospect in Barrington. (Paul Valade | Staff Photographer)
Barrington outlasted Prospect 52-45 Friday in Barrington in the first Mid-Suburban League football championship game since 1974. And in a game that had 1,089 yards of offense, it was a defensive play that was the biggest.
Jackson Gehrisch came over from near the middle of the field to intercept a pass at the Barrington 1-yard line with less than 30 seconds to play to preserve the win for the Broncos.
“As a defensive player, we don’t love all those points, ” Gehrisch said. “I figured that they would try to pick on a play in the corner. I saw it and just came over and picked it off.”
It was a sweet win for Barrington (6-0), which was not even a member of the MSL when the last championship game was played.
“It was unbelievable,” Barrington coach Joe Sanchez said. “For this group to come out like this in a shootout with an absolutely fantastic team over there, I am elated and humbled.”
Barrington had taken a 52-45 lead on Bryan Smith’s third touchdown of the night. Smith, who finished with 263 yards on 14 carries, scored on a 6-yard run to put Barrington back on top 52-45 with 1:49 to play.
Read more here. Congratulations Broncos!
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