Opportunity knocked for the St. Francis football team Saturday afternoon.

The defense forced four turnovers and the special teams unit recovered a pair of pooch kickoffs and blocked a punt that was recovered in the end zone for a touchdown during the Spartans’ 44-14 triumph over Chicago King (7-5) in a Class 5A quarterfinal in Wheaton.

“We were coming in thinking, ‘We had a good week of practice, punching the ball out, preaching that we were going to force turnovers and make them move the ball slowly on us,’” said St. Francis senior two-way standout Tanner Glock, whose 32-yard scoop-and-score touchdown extended the Spartans’ lead to 14-0 midway through the opening quarter.

“We forced all those turnovers that we were practicing.”

After senior Preston Shipley’s fumble recovery thwarted

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