HEBRON, Oct. 3 - Jonell Crump's right ankle isn't in 100 percent condition. Hence the brace he wore on Saturday against Alden-Hebron, and the still-noticeable limp.

But when Crump took the ball and motored through a gaping hole near the left hashmark with 1:04 to play against the previously unbeaten Green Giants, there was no limp, no hesitation - just pure, flat-out acceleration.

Crump ran the ball untouched 25 yards on that play to score what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. The run capped a fourth-quarter comeback from a 10-0 deficit and gave the Ramblers their first victory on the field against Alden-Hebron since 1996.

"It was funny," Crump said. "All week, I didn't think I was going to be able to go on it. Friday, before practice, I took some ibuprofen and it started to feel better. Me, I'm not a personal fan of pills, but my Family Teacher told me to take it and it just feels better. I put the brace on and did what I could."

Whether a little medicine was the answer or not, Crump tore through the hole and raced up the left sideline into the end zone. While his teammates and the Ramblers fans who made the trip went wild, Crump remained composed, saving his celebrations until the game was won and the Giants were slain.

"It's been more than a decade," Crump said. "We've been counting. We've been talking about it since the beginning of the year, since my freshman year. It's a great feeling to do this in my senior year."

Mooseheart did gain a forfeit win over the Giants in 1998, during a period in which Alden-Hebron had difficulty fielding a football team--days that are long gone. But although recent games have been as hard-hitting as they have been close, the results have always favored Alden-Hebron. Saturday, though the winning team was different, the closeness and the intensity of the contest were as present.

"It's a monkey off my back," Crump said. "It's a monkey off my team's back, off our coach's back. It feels wonderful."

The win marked the first time Mooseheart coach Gary Urwiler had won against Alden-Hebron coach John Lalor. The coaches are good friends, though they are always heated rivals for one afternoon a year.

"I'm pretty emotional about this right now," Urwiler said to the gathered press after the game. "If I turn away - I just don't know what to say."

Urwiler never lost his composure, though his pride in his team's accomplishment shone through the late-afternoon gloom. The second half was played in intermittent rain and under a darkening sky. Alden-Hebron does not have lights at its field alongside Illinois Route 47, and shadows were lengthening when Crump headed to the end zone.

"We worked pretty dang hard," Urwiler said. "To have our guys play the way they did and to have the faith and to not give up - they had every reason when they went down 10-0 to really kind of hang our heads and say 'this is over.'"
With the win, Mooseheart moves to 5-1 overall, as well as in the first-year Northeastern Athletic Conference. With the final third of the season still to play, the Ramblers are just one victory from assuring themselves a spot in the playoffs after a missed postseason in 2008.

Alden-Hebron (5-1, 5-1) saw its homecoming afternoon wrecked when the Ramblers roared from a 10-0 deficit with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns.
Alden-Hebron scored the first points of the game when Andrew Erckfritz hit a 38-yard field goal with 1:02 left in the opening half. The Giants went further ahead when Max Vazquez hit Dillon Lalor for an 8-yard TD pass with 2:55 left in the third quarter.

The Ramblers rallied at that point and finally got on the board 44 seconds into the fourth quarter when Isaiah Brigman hooked up with Oumaru Abdulahi for a 44-yard TD pass.

"That was a huge play for Abdulahi, who's a freshman," Urwiler said. "And then to get into the end zone too."

That set the stage for Crump's run. But the game was still not over, and Alden-Hebron nearly rallied for a dramatic win of its own. After taking the ensuing kickoff, Vazquez hit Mitch Hooper on a deep pass play, and Hooper was headed to the end zone. But Brigman, whom Hooper had initially outraced, recovered and made a tackle inside the 5-yard line.

The Giants thought they had scored on first-and-goal--but an Alden-Hebron player was called for illegally helping the runner when he ran into the stalled pile of players and pushed a ballcarrier into the end zone.

The Ramblers managed to close out the game at that point and secure their victory.

Mooseheart's next home game is its Homecoming contest, a Saturday encounter with Hope Academy. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

Scoring plays

AH-Erckfritz 38 field goal

AH-D. Lalor 8 pass from Vazguez (Erckfritz kick) MH-Abdulahi 44 pass from Brigman (Cheneyon kick) MH-Crump 25 run (Cheneyon kick)