Schaumburg 41, Conant 28
They're referred to as the big uglies.
And that's supposed to be an affectionate nickname.
Imagine what they'd be called if they didn't do their jobs well.
Fortunately for them, the Schaumburg offensive line performed to near-perfection during a 41-28 comeback Mid-Suburban West victory over Conant at Feutz Field on Friday night.
"I want to give the O-line a shout-out," Schaumburg running back Mick Trimarco said. "They worked their (butts) off in practice. They work real hard. It's making my life easy."
Sure. A lot of what Trimarco did was aided by a stellar offensive line that dominated at the point of attack, but the Schaumburg running back didn't exactly ease his way through four quarters of football.
His career night did, however, make the Conant defense a bit uneasy while his 276 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns forced the crazed Cougar homecoming crowd to go home a bit queasy.
"It feels good," he said. "Especially on their homecoming when they're all fired up. It proves that we can bring it to another level too."
A fired-up Conant (1-5, 0-2) defense held Trimarco to just 50 yards rushing in the first half. But he stepped up when it mattered most.
Schaumburg (4-2, 2-0) trailed 28-13 midway through the third quarter when Trimarco broke his first long run from scrimmage of the night. His 65-yard dance was the perfect response to Conant's 59-yard touchdown from Scott Zari just 19 seconds earlier.
The run not only foreshadowed the rest of the evening, but it also appeared to be a bit of deja-vu.
For the second time, Trimarco immediately responded to a Zari touchdown. Following Zari's 9-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, Trimarco broke free on the ensuing kickoff for a 79-yard touchdown.
"Just having Mick in the backfield is a huge threat," Saxon quarterback Cody Logsdon said. "If they don't key on him, then he'll do what he did in the second half."
Even with Conant keying on him it was powerless to stop him from breaking fourth-quarter touchdown runs of 49 and 48 yards.
"We didn't tackle him very well. He broke tackles and outran us," Conant coach Bill Modelski said. "That certainly is an issue for us. There is not a whole lot you can do about it. You can't just snap your fingers and have a safety that is 200 pounds."
Logsdon finished 8-for-14 for 99 yards and touchdown passes to Anthony Ianotti and Josh Spandiary.
Conant was paced by Zari's 139 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Tom Houle (111 yards) scored from 42 yards and Otto Linderman added a 2-yard touchdown run.
"It's tough to lose your homecoming game no matter who you're playing. Losing to your rivals, it just exacerbates the problem," Zari said.