St. Charles East 46, Streamwood 0
You know it's your night when …
• Your offense scores touchdowns on its first five possessions.
• Your defense doesn't allow a single rushing yard (minus-3) in the first half.
• Your special teams come through with a blocked punt to help set up a short first-quarter scoring drive.
• You're winning 25-0 -- after one quarter.
From the opening kickoff to the game's final play, everything fell into place for St. Charles East's football team Friday night during its 46-0 Upstate Eight Conference triumph over visiting Streamwood (0-4, 0-2) at Norris Stadium.
"We didn't play completely flawless, but we played a pretty good brand of football," said Saints coach Ted Monken. "I was very pleased with the defense getting the goose egg. They've played so hard -- it was nice to see them rewarded with a shutout."
The Saints' stingy defense didn't allow a first down during the Sabres' first three offensive possessions.
After forcing a three-and-out on the opening series, the Saints marched 56 yards in 5 plays, capped by Wes Allen's 3-yard touchdown run to make it 6-0.
Moments later, an interception by defensive lineman Dave Mashal helped set up the first of three touchdown runs by senior fullback Christopher Caci -- a 25-yarder -- to up the lead to 12-0.
"The offensive line stepped it up and made all the holes tonight," said Caci, who gained 128 yards on 13 carries as part of the Saints' 295-yard ground attack. "And there were huge holes."
Tom Kuebel's blocked punt set up Allen's 1-yard TD plunge, and after quarterback Sam Gunther (5-of-8, 91 yards) tossed a 28-yard TD strike to Matt Hammer, the Saints had already built a 25-0 first-quarter lead.
"We really needed our young offensive line to get that feeling of moving people off the ball," said Monken, "and opening up some holes and having some success in that area. It was a real confidence builder for those guys.
"We faced a team that was just superior to us this week," said Sabres coach Cal Cummins. "They've got a lot of kids flying around the football field and doing things well.
"We've got to move ahead. It's all about trying to get better each week."
Caci added a 32-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, and Allen, who rushed for 160 yards on 15 carries, tallied his third TD of the game from 31 yards out to make it 39-0 at halftime.
From there, the Saints' defense pretty much did the rest, recording its first shutout of the season.
"That's how we started out in the beginning of the summer -- swarming to the ball," said linebacker Pat Friel, who had 2 of the Saints' 4 sacks. "We feel like we should have a shutout every game."
Streamwood's best scoring chance ended with a fumble at the Saints' 1 early in the fourth quarter.