WLS used the one-two punch of Zach Woodruff and Zac Culley to grind out a 13-0 lead late in the fourth quarter. Woodruff ran 17 times for 101 yards, while Culley ran 17 times for 76 yards and two touchdowns.
But Central scored on a 14-yard pass from Brian Kelly to Pat Sheehan to make it 13-7 with 1:31 to go, then recovered the ensuing onside kick. But a pass reception in the end zone was ruled out of bounds and the Tigers survived.
“We lost another starter right before the game with mono,” said Irish coach Steve DeWitt, whose team fell to 3-3 and 2-1 in the OHC. “In spite of that, I’m extremely proud of the performance I got out of our kids. I’m not sure we could have asked for anything more.
“Some things happened for us tonight as far as pretty good mechanics playing probably the best football team in the conference and the best we’ve seen.”
“Anytime you get a win in league play, you are excited,” said WLS coach Toby Smith. “It don’t matter how you win, just that you win. We just need to watch the film and correct the mistakes we made. We need to just take care of business and play a little bit better than tonight.”
DeWitt bemoaned the Irish’s last play of the game.
“To tell you the truth, I’m dying right now to look at the film,” he said. “I think the last call in the end zone was a reception. If it was, we would be kicking for the extra point to win the ballgame. But that’s not the way the referees saw it.”