Islanders rally from 15-point deficit

When it came down to the finish, only the big plays mattered. In a situation like that, DeLaSalle is a good bet to come out on top.

The Islanders did so in Friday's Class 3A quarterfinals, coming back from a 15-point halftime deficit behind Michael Van Leer's three long touchdowns before holding on for a wild 48-36 victory over Rochester Lourdes at Macalester.

On the game's final play, which started from DeLaSalle's 11 and with the score 42-36, the Islanders' Walter Franklin intercepted a pass near the left corner of the end zone and brought it back 99 yards for a touchdown. The intended target, Nic Jensen, would have scored and potentially given Lourdes a victory if not for Franklin's leaping grab.

"I wanted it more," Franklin said afterward, fighting back tears of joy. "It felt wonderful."

DeLaSalle, last year's Class 3A state runner-up, had not been tested all season. The undefeated Islanders' closest margin of victory was 20 points.

While it looked like more of the same when DeLaSalle's Donzell Bell returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a 7-0 lead, momentum quickly swung to Rochester Lourdes. The Eagles scored on all four first-half possessions and took a 29-14 lead into the break.

But that's when the game turned into the Van Leer show. The QB caught a 39-yard TD pass from running back Evan Williams on a gimmick play, scored on a 60-yard punt return and then put the Islanders ahead for good on a 49-yard fourth-down scramble with five minutes to play. When Williams scored with 2:18 left to make it 42-29, the game seemed over.

But Lourdes scored with a minute left, recovered an onside kick and knocked on the door before Franklin's huge play.

"Coaches always say they're going to put us in good position to make plays, and we just have to make plays," Van Leer said.