Fremd, Palatine in playoffs
Fremd completed its comeback from a 1-4 start to extend its playoff and Mid-Suburban West title streaks with a 31-10 victory Friday night in Palatine.
“It wasn't easy,” Ohio State-bound Fremd center Brian Bobek said with a smile.
Senior Justin Wallace rushed for 165 yards and 2 touchdowns on 25 carries as the Vikings (5-4, 4-1) extended their MSL record playoff streak to 16 years. Freshman quarterback Sam Beutler rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown and senior Richard Concialdi threw a 3-yard touchdown to Jack Konopka.
The Vikings also ended up sharing the West title with Schaumburg. Their eight straight shared or outright division titles is an MSL record.
Conant (2-7, 0-5) lost its seventh straight as Cordell Smith rushed for 82 yards. John Maevski kicked a 24-yard field goal 11 seconds before halftime and Jacobi Sims had a 43-yard touchdown run with 3:09 left.
Palatine 21, Barrington 10: Cody Bobbit ran and threw for a touchdown as Palatine (5-4, 3-2) never trailed and qualified for the playoffs for the fourth straight year with the win at Barrington (7-2, 3-2).
Bobbit (128 yards passing)threw a 63-yard TD pass to his brother Jesse and ran for a 2-yard TD in the first quarter. Barrington rallied within 14-10 at halftime on a 1-yard TD run by quarterback Matt LeMire (181 yards passing) and a 22-yard field goal by Ben LeCompte.
But Palatine got some third-quarter breathing room on a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown by Kurt Becker.
Prospect 28, Buffalo Grove 0: Quarterback Steve Dazzo rushed for 212 yards and passed for 201 as Prospect (8-1, 5-0) wrapped up the outright MSL East title with its eighth straight victory.
Peter Bonahoom also had 99 of the Knights' 402 yards rushing. Anthony Babicz had 2 sacks as BG (4-5, 2-3) was held to 26 yards rushing and threw 3 interceptions.
Elk Grove 35, Meadows 21: Elk Grove (7-2, 4-1) quarterback Nick Meyer completed 15-of-24 passes for 257 yards and 4 touchdowns in the MSL East win at Rolling Meadows.
Meadows (4-5, 2-3) saw its playoff streak of seven years come to an end.
Schaumburg 56, Hoffman Estates 14: Schaumburg (7-2, 4-1) stopped host Hoffman Estates (1-8, 1-4) and ended up as co-champs with Fremd in the MSL West as Saxons quarterback Mark Iannotti was 12-of-12 for 140 yards with 2 touchdown runs and 1 TD pass.
Wheeling 28, Hersey 21 (ot): Wheeling defeated Hersey 28-21 in overtime in the last game of the season for both teams.
After two quick scoring passes by junior quarterback Tyler Brady helped put the Wildcats (3-6, 2-3) up 14-7, Hersey (3-6, 0-5) shifted the momentum on an 86-yard interception return by Jason Olson that helped tie the game at 14-14 before the half.
The teams traded touchdowns once more in the second half, and an interception by Wheeling senior Luke Smith in the final minute thwarted Hersey's chance at a last-minute win and forced overtime.
Smith hauled in a 5-yard score on Wheeling's opening possession in overtime. The pass was Brady's third touchdown throw of the night. He finished the game 20-for-38 for 184 yards and added 116 yards on the ground.
The game ended on a Hersey fumble that squirted out of the back of the endzone on its first possession of overtime.
Addison Trail 20, Leyden 7: In a win to get in the playoffs scenario, Addison Trail (5-4, 5-1) got two fourth-quarter touchdown runs from Anthony Messina in the West Suburban Gold win in Northlake.
Leyden (4-5, 3-3) tied it in the third quarter on a 19-yard TD pass from Joey DiFronzo to Andres Orrego.
Marian Catholic 45, St. Viator 21: Jimmy Menges rushed for 2 touchdowns but St. Viator (4-5, 2-5) lost its fourth straight game and saw its playoff hopes ended in Chicago Heights.
Viator trailed 14-7 at halftime but Marian (7-2, 5-1) scored the first three third-quarter touchdowns. Cameron Korab threw a 29-yard TD pass to Frank Laterza for the Lions.
Highland Park 21, Maine West 0: Maine West (2-7, 1-4) saw its season come to an end while visiting Highland Park (5-4, 4-1) became playoff eligible with the Central Suburban North victory.
Highland Park had a dominant performance on the ground led by junior
running back Nate Echt, who had 126 yards rushing on 17 carries.
Maine West senior quarterback Ziggy Krycka passed for 86 yards to lead the offense.