Failed fourth down play leads to Marquette's win over East

Marquette stopped Brookfield East on a fourth down and one wiht 4:27 left to play and turned that into a touchdown and a 22-16 victory.

The win enabled the Hilltoppers to stay in a first-place tie (5-1) with Brookfield Central and Sussex Hamilton while the Spartans hopes for a share of the title probably went down the drain (4-2).

Leading 16-14, East went for a first down on fourth and one from its own 34 instead of punting and letting its defense win the game.

But the Hilltopper defense stopped East QB Bryce Pompos on fourth and one and scored five plays later on a short run by Alex Klestinski. A 2-point conversion by QB Joe Greif to Tom Siwula gave them a 6-point lead (22-16).

Marquette scored first at 11:09 of the first quarter when Greif threw a 37-yard pass to Matt Misiewicz for a 7-0 lead.

The Spartans did get two big plays when they blocked a MUHS field goal try by Alec James and Brian Smith raced down the sidelines with the loose ball and gave East a first down on the 34-yard lines.

In five plays RB Zach Schober scored on a 12-yard TD run, carrying several Hilltoppers into the end zone to tie the score at 7-7 with 3:27 left to play.

Marquette took the lead at 14-7 with 7:28 left to play when Greif hit Alex Ash for a 38-yard touchdown and that's the way the score stood at half.

In the second half, East's Mike Amato returned a long kick-off to the MUHS 27 and after four straight carries by Schober, East ran a counter play and James raced untouched around left end for the score from 13 yards out to tie the game with 8:44 left to play.

With the Hilltoppers on their own 7, Greif was tackled in the end zone by James and Jivanni Hutson for a safety and a 16-14 lead with 9:01 to play.

The Spartans stopped MUHS on a 3-and-out drive and took over with 6:14 left to play. It looked like James had a first down, but the it came up just short for the Spartans.

East took a time out on the fourth and one call and the Spartans failed to get the first down and Marquette scored the winner quickly.