Bartlett 33, Oswego 22
The Bartlett football team could do nothing offensively in the first half Friday night.
Fortunately for the Hawks, the second half was completely different.
Bartlett put up about 250 yards of offense in the second half en route to a 33-22 victory over Oswego at Millennium Field.
"It was 0-0 and a new game," Hawks senior running back Vinnie Libreri said. "The intensity rised and we came to play."
The teams played a scoreless first half with Bartlett (1-1) having 43 yards of offense. Oswego (1-1) had 133 yards.
The Panthers found the end zone on their third offensive play of the third quarter on a 31-yard touchdown run by Matt Casula to take a 7-0 lead. That would be Oswego's only lead of the game.
Bartlett answered on its next possession, capped by a 1-yard run by Joey Lehto. After an Oswego punt, Hawks quarterback Josh Hasenberg found Libreri for a 45-yard score to put Bartlett up 14-7 with 29.7 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
On the Hawks' next possession, Libreri took a handoff up the middle, cut to his right and outran the Oswego defense for a 55-yard touchdown run. The extra point was missed, but Bartlett had a 20-7 lead with 9:29 remaining. "I was talking to the O-line and telling them, 'Let's go boys,' " Libreri said.
"We did it as a team."
Oswego cut the lead to 20-14 less than a minute and a half later on a Tim Riley touchdown reception.
Libreri broke free on the Hawks' next play for a 66-yard run to the Panthers' 5-yard line. Hasenberg capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Bartlett's Steve Seeman intercepted Oswego quarterback Cam Quackenbush's next pass and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown to open a 33-14 lead.
The Panthers added a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 2:54 remaining to cut the Hawks' lead to 33-22, but an onside kick failed. After a fumble, Oswego turned the ball over on downs and Bartlett ran out the clock for its first victory.
Libreri finished with 208 yards on 16 carries, a week after the Hawks threw for more than 300 yards in a season-opening loss to Glenbard North. Hasenberg threw for 74 yards on 4 of 14 passing against Oswego.