Larkin 42, Bartlett 35
A good passing performance by Cam Kinley coupled with an inability to make clean tackles for Bartlett resulted in a 42-35 win for Larkin to begin Upstate Eight Conference football action.
Kinley finished the game 23 of 34 for 364 yards as he was able to dump the ball and let his receivers do the work.
"They all have some speed," said Hawks coach Tom Meaney of the Larkin offense. "They're tough as nails. We just needed to tackle a little bit better."
However, it was a 70-yard interception return by Nick Bee with 7:26 left in the game that sealed the deal for the Royals as it put Larkin up 42-21.
Larkin scored the game's first 2 touchdowns with a 78-yard TD pass to Jake Kane followed by a 15-yard TD pass to Dillon Smith to finish the first quarter 14-0.
Kane caught a 22-yard TD pass to end the half ahead after the Hawks scored a pair of touchdowns.
"We have the ability to score points," said Royals coach Dave Bierman. "That's huge for the kids."
Kinley had one more TD pass with a 67-yard reception by Bee followed by a QB sneak for Kinley both in the third quarter.
But the main factor was the Royals' ability to eat the clock once they had the lead.
"We did more things to eat up the clock," Bierman said. "Last week we give up 75 points because we'd score quickly and give the other team the ball right back."
The Hawks did put up a fight near the end when they were down by 3 touchdowns.
After the interception return for Larkin, Jayson Blendowski took a kickoff return back for a 60-yard touchdown, which gave the sideline some hope.
Soon after making a defensive stop, Josh Hasenberg, who finished 15 of 27 for 231 yards, threw a 25-yard TD pass to Alex VanNess, but only 58 seconds remained on the clock.
Vinnie Libreri scored the Hawks' first 2 TDs, each on 22-yard runs in the second quarter, while finishing the night with 150 yards on 22 carries.
"The run game should improve the passing game. We're mixing up the plays fine," Meaney said. "Eighty-five percent of the time, when a team scores 35 points, they're going to win. That just shows how good Larkin is."
-- Seth Hancock
Glenbard North 36, Wheaton North 13:ŒTyler Doll doesn't strike an imposing figure on the football field, at all of 165 pounds.
Don't underestimate the Glenbard North junior. Or for that matter, the rest of the Panthers.
Doll had a staggering 38 carries for 186 yards, and Evan Watkins threw for 144 yards and 2 touchdowns in Glenbard North's convincing 36-13 win over Wheaton North in the DuPage Valley Conference opener for both teams Friday in Wheaton.
"Our line was great up front and gave us a great push all night," Doll said. "This is a big win for us, gives us some momentum going into next week against Wheaton Warrenville South."
Glenbard North (2-1, 1-0) never trailed, taking a 10-0 lead at the half on Brian Hackett's 22-yard field goal and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Watkins to Matt Ng.
The Panthers went ahead 17-0 with 5:23 left in the third quarter as Watkins executed a play-action pass to perfection, rolling left and finding tight end Jim Montgomery all alone in the end zone for a 25-yard score. Both of Watkins' touchdown passes came off play-fakes to Doll.
"We kept running the ball and running the ball," Glenbard North coach Ryan Wilkens said, "and then we get the big kid (Watkins) on play-action, and he does a good job with that. Evan is pretty darn good."
Wheaton North (2-1, 0-1) finally got on the board with 1:34 left in the third quarter as Mike Trumpy scored on a 55-yard run.
Trumpy, who later added a 5-yard touchdown, went over the 200-yard mark for the second straight week, going for 234 yards on 23 carries.
"He's unbelievable," Falcons coach Matt Foster said. "A one-man show."
But Glenbard North answered Trumpy's long touchdown, Doll carrying the ball 6 times in a 7-play drive capped off by his 3-yard touchdown and a 24-7 lead.
Doll later had 9 carries in a drive that ended with Watkins' 3-yard TD keeper.
"Once we got the lead, we just wanted to eat the clock and try to get some more points," Doll said.
"Tyler just runs behind the big guys and looks for the cutbacks," Wilkens said, "and he can make something out of nothing at times."
Foster tipped his cap to Glenbard North but couldn't help lamenting the first-half miscues that dug his team an early hole. Wheaton North lost 2 fumbles in the first half and twice missed on open deep pass attempts.
"We made lots of mistakes," Foster said. "We had momentum and then shot ourselves in the foot. They're a good football team and took advantage of it."
-- Joshua Welge
Batavia 13, Glenbard South 6:ŒIf ever there was a definition for finding a way to win, Batavia found it Friday night.
Despite being outgained and outplayed by a gutty Glenbard South team, Batavia carved out an advantage where it mattered most -- on the scoreboard -- with a 13-6 victory over South in the Western Sun Conference opener for both teams.
The defensive battle went down to the waning minutes until Brian Krolikowski's 15-yard TD run with 1:26 left broke a 6-6 deadlock and provided the winning margin for Batavia (2-1, 1-0).
Call it an escape, survival, lucky ... but Batavia was glad to tuck it away in the win column.
"When we look back on this game later in the year, it's going to be a huge win," Batavia coach Mike Gaspari said. "It doesn't really matter what we did; the fact that we won the game is what counts."
Glenbard South (2-1, 0-1) mounted 288 yards of offense to Batavia's 142, owned possession of the ball for 34 minutes to Batavia's 14 and held a 16-5 advantage in first downs. Yet Batavia's defense was impenetrable and limited Glenbard South to a pair of field goals by Scott Langel.
Langel broke a scoreless tie with 2:04 left before half on a 34-yard field goal. The lead lasted for a matter of seconds. Batavia junior Bai Kabba took in Langel's high-arching kickoff at his own 3-yard line, burst up the middle, then flared down the right sideline for a 97-yard touchdown.
"He's a game-breaker," Gaspari said. "We'll need to find ways to get him the ball offensively."
That's where the Bulldogs struggled most. Gaspari ran a revolving door at quarterback, alternating Jack Creed and Jason Coffey, sometimes on back-to-back plays. But there was no spark to be found as duo combined for 3-of-11 passing for 37 yards. With the offense sputtering the game was decided by special teams and defense.
"There was no rhyme or reason to the quarterback substitutions," Gaspari said. "Just trying to give both kids an opportunity to make something happen. Where it goes from here ... I'm not sure."
Glenbard South quarterback Kevin Marshall had his game working. The junior workhorse rushed the ball 29 times for 96 yards and completed 13 of 24 passes to six receivers for 145 yards.
"I'm proud of the way our kids battled; it was a great effort," Glenbard South coach Dan Starkey said. "We just couldn't put points on the board when we needed to at critical times and, unfortunately, we just made too many mistakes that cost us."
Both teams squandered opportunities. Batavia punter Jordan Church fumbled the snap from center late in the third to give the Raiders prime position at Batavia's 15. But Church atoned three plays later, stuffing Marshall on a third-and-1 to force Glenbard South to settle for the field goal which tied the game at 6-6.
Midway through the fourth, Batavia's defense held again, stopping Marshall on consecutive short-yardage sneaks. Then, with four minutes left, Church and Sean O'Brien registered back-to-back sacks, and a high snap from punt formation gave the Bulldogs the ball at Glenbard South's 17-yard line.
Krolikowski set off the home-crowd celebration with a bruising, crashing run into the left corner of the end zone for the decisive TD.
"I was just looking at the pylon and going for it," Krolikowski said. "I don't have great speed, so anytime I go for a 15-yard run, you know I'm probably breaking a few tackles."
-- Jeff Long
Addison Trail 26, Morton 8:ŒWith a Morton defender racing to close the gap on him, Addison Trail's Vince Beachem found another gear as he streaked toward the end zone to score the Blazers' first touchdown of the football season on Friday.
"I just felt someone behind me, and took off," said Beachem, who left the Mustangs defender in the dust on an 85-yard, first-quarter touchdown run. Beachem finished with 215 rushing yards and 3 running touchdowns. The Blazers won 26-8 in their West Suburban Gold opener in Addison.
"Anytime he touches the ball, he can take it (to the end zone)," Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet said of Beachem.
Blazers senior Joe DuFour and his teammates on the offensive line got the lion's share of credit from both Beachem and Parpet for opening holes and allowing Beachem and Mike DeStefano to pick their spots.
"We finally just started clicking," DuFour said. "We had a really good week of practice, and everything fell into place tonight."
Addison Trail (1-2, 1-0) fell behind 8-0 when Morton (0-3, 0-1) scored on its first possession, but Beachem's long run cut the deficit to 8-6 before the second quarter.
That quarter spelled doom for the Mustangs, who not only coughed up 3 fumbles that the Blazers recovered but committed a slew of penalties that backed them deep into their own territory.
The remainder of the points scored in the game came in the second quarter, with Beachem posting TD runs of 48 and 25 yards and DeStafano scoring from 1 yard out before halftime.
The Blazers on the defensive side of the ball held up their end as well, holding Morton scoreless after the Mustangs' first offensive series of the night.
"We were so jacked up and ready for this game, and everyone played fantastic," DuFour said. "We flew around, got to the ball and hit hard."
-- Gary Larsen
Waterford (Wis.) Union 34, Fenton 7:ŒD.J. Anderson scored the Bison's lone touchdown on a 1-yard run in the third quarter of Friday's game in Wisconsin.
Derek Potuszynski caught 5 passes for 85 yards for Fenton (1-2) against Union (2-1).
Defensively, middle linebacker Danny Pingel had 11 tackles, and defensive tackle Mike Nolte added 7.