Andre Labuda guided a fierce Lockport defense all season. Praised by teammates and coaches for his intelligence, Labuda called out the plays and made sure everyone knew where to be.
The senior linebacker kept everything in order again Saturday night as the Porters battled until the end of a defensive slugfest with a trip to state on the line.
“I think everyone on our defense was beat up in one way or another,” Labuda said. “We just kept fighting. Besides the one play, I think we played amazing.”
That one play was a 63-yard touchdown run by Ammar Banire, which helped host Oswego outlast the Porters for a 10-7 win in a Class 8A state semifinal.
Labuda was a consistent force for Lockport (9-4), which largely held the Panthers (11-2) in check aside from that one run. Darrell McCullough had a sack and a tackle for loss and Matt Kies contributed two tackles for loss.
Brendan Mecher completed 7 of 17 passes for 88 yards and ran for 67 yards on 14 carries, including a 9-yard TD. Adam Kozak also hauled in five catches for 81 yards for the Porters.
“I think on both sides of the ball, we did as much as we could,” Labuda said. “Nobody should be sad as long as we did what we could. I think we played a heck of a game out there, but that’s just how it ended.”
Kaleb Stumpenhorst drilled a 42-yard field goal with a minute left to give Oswego a 10-7 lead.
The Porters gave themselves a chance after Mecher and Kozak connected on a couple key passes, but a 39-yard field-goal attempt on the final play fell short.
Lockport led 7-0 until Banire’s TD run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter sparked the Panthers.
“It was a great game,” Lockport coach George Czart said. “I knew it was going to be a close game and it’d come to someone making a mistake somewhere. We made one on that touchdown run and we weren’t able to overcome it.”
The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for Lockport, which turned things around in a big way after a 1-3 start.
“We never gave up on ourselves and that’s what it came down to in the end,” Labuda said. “People might have counted us out but we never did.
“Everyone in those meetings after we were 1-3, we knew that from that point on we were going to make a change and we did.”
Labuda was a big part of that turnaround, according to McCullough.
“He’s great,” said McCullough, a junior linebacker. “He’s amazing. All the seniors help all the lowerclassmen and they really led the team.”
Labuda was named honorable mention all-state by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association, which Czart felt was greatly deserved.
“He’s got a 4.5 out of 4.0 GPA,” Czart said. “He makes the calls. He’s a big, strong kid. He’s a leader. He’s very coachable. He’s an inspiration for our younger players, and if he isn’t, I’m going to make sure that they hear about him and learn from him because he’s a heck of a player.”
Labuda is still making plans for college, but he knows where his priorities are.
“I want to go to a really good academic school,” Labuda said. “I take pride in my grades and that’s what I’ve been looking for in schools. I want to go to a more prestigious academic school, and if it works out that I can play football there, I’d love that.”
If this does turn out to be Labuda’s final season of football, it sure was an unforgettable one.
“It’s all about the guys that I was with and all the memories we’ve had along the way,” Labuda said. “How much fun we had. Those are the biggest things that I’ll care about. Being with my brothers for 13 weeks.”