For sure, Sandburg’s Charlie Snoreck was going to get the ball.
There were no ifs, ands, buts or double teams that were going to change the mind of coach Troy McAllister about that fourth-and-goal play with the game on the line against Lincoln-Way Central.
“We decided during the timeout we were going to get the ball to Charlie,” McAllister said. “We were going to give him that opportunity. He’s our best player and we wanted to get him the ball.
“We saw the double coverage, but time and time again, he’s made the big play for us.”
Snoreck, a 6-foot-1,190-pound senior receiver, made another big play Friday night.
Despite double coverage, senior quarterback Anthony Shelton found Snoreck in the left corner of the end zone. A Lincoln-Way Central defensive back wrapped his arms around him and was called for pass interference, but Snoreck grabbed the ball and hung on with 38 seconds left in the game.
Junior kicker Drew Drzonek converted the extra point and Ryan Ward followed with an interception in the closing seconds as Sandburg clinched a 28-27 victory over the Knights in a Southwest Valley Conference crossover game in New Lenox.
Snoreck caught eight passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns for Sandburg (5-1). Shelton completed 18 of 28 passes for 283 yards and three TDs even though he misfired on seven of his first 12 passes. Luke Basiorka ran 24 times for 70 yards and a TD.
Tyler Tulk ended up with 132 yards on 16 carries and a TD for Lincoln-Way Central (3-3), while while Luke Tingley had 123 yards on 15 carries and a TD. Drew Woodburn ran for two TDs.
Meanwhile, Snoreck saw the double team was in his future for the final play.
“I was like, ‘All right, I just gotta make a play,’” Snoreck said. “I released inside and he bit on it and (Shelton) threw a perfect ball. It was right on the money. I put my hands out there and held onto it.
“I didn’t realize he was on my back like that.”
The Shelton-Snoreck connection started before the longtime friends were even in kindergarten as they tossed the football around for fun.
“This is definitely more fun than in the backyard,” Shelton said. “But it’s a lot more pressure. It’s a great feeling coming back, and I had a great feeling Charlie was going to make the catch.
“I put the ball where it needed to be and he went out and got it.”
Snoreck, a two-sport athlete for the Eagles, said at first he wanted to concentrate on baseball, but he came to a football summer camp and the rest is history.
“It was coach McAllister’s first year, and I just felt that I liked what he was trying to do with the program,” Snoreck said. “I just bought into it. I was on the freshman team, but I was getting better and put a lot of work during the offseason, and I made the varsity as a sophomore.
“This is coach McAllister’s first group he got to work with, and you can just see it clicking.”
Snoreck is getting looks for football from Wisconsin-Platteville, Wisconsin-Stout and South Dakota State. He attended camps at North Central College, South Dakota State and Northern Iowa.
While Snoreck said he would be open to playing baseball in college, he also knows that right now there’s more interest in him for football, ranking that sport slightly above baseball as his favorite.
“I love the atmosphere and hitting factor,” Snoreck said of football. “Baseball doesn’t have that. Baseball is more of a mental game.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
