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Confident Hoffman Estates bests Conant in shootout

With the toughest part of its schedule looming, Hoffman Estates seemed like a long shot to make the playoffs two week ago.

After a 30-29 victory against visiting Conant on Friday night, the Hawks hold a 4-4 overall record, 2-2 in the Mid-Suburban West. And suddenly, Hoffman Estates is just 1 win away from a possible postseason berth.

"All I know is something special has happened with our team," said senior Chady Bitre. "Something very special happened. All of sudden we just knew we could win. We knew we could do it. We knew we could beat any team. We knew if we just put our minds to it we could do whatever we wanted."

Hoffman's defense made a late stop, and after a missed field goal in the final seconds by Conant, the Hawks stormed the field in celebration on senior night.

Bitre carried the ball 36 times for 187 yards, but the biggest run was a 20-yard score with 40 seconds left in the game. He broke several tackles on his way to the end zone.

The score came two minutes after Conant had a big play of its own, as Palmer Graham caught a deep pass from Kyle Bradley but fumbled the ball. Teammate Carl Hahn, however, was there to scoop it up and run into an end zone to complete an 89-yard play that gave the Cougars a 29-24 lead.

It didn't last long as Hawks QB Keegan Pierce marched the team down the field to set up Bitre's third touchdown.

Pierce added an 8-yard touchdown run of his own earlier in the game.

Dante Cleveland returned from injury and made a major impact on the defensive side of the ball providing a constant pass rush as Hoffman Estates held the Conant passing attack to 225 yards.

Cleveland's presence was also felt in the run game as Conant (6-2, 2-2) ran to the opposite side of the field most of the game.

Jake Jakubosky, however, still managed to rush for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns. Bradley also had a touchdown pass to Graham.

Hoffman Estates will look to keep up the momentum next week on the road again Barrington.

"Barrington is a strong team," Bitre said. "They beat Conant as well. They are extremely tough, but I believe this team right here, the belief that we have, we can do it."

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