Palatine's playoff return big success

It had been 10 long years since Palatine last appeared in a state playoff football game.

The wait for the next one won't be quite as long.

The No. 9 seeded Pirates, in the postseason for the first time since 1997, earned the right to move on in Class 8A with an emphatic 44-0 victory Friday night over Lane Tech at Lane Stadium in Chicago.

"What an amazing feeling," said Palatine running back Dan Sutton, who set the tone by scoring the first of his 4 touchdowns on a 73-yard romp on the game's second play.

Sutton rushed 16 times for 189 yards.

"We seniors have been waiting for this for four years," added defensive back Kurt Handzel, who recorded 1 of Palatine's 2 interceptions.

And now the Pirates get a home game next weekend against top-seed and 10-time state champion Mt. Carmel (10-0), a 48-7 winner over Leyden.

The Pirates defense held Lane 121 yards of total offense, while the Palatine 'O' rolled up more than 400 yards for the fourth straight time.

Sutton added first-half touchdown runs from 9 and 18 yards and Chris Norman ran off tackle from 3 yards away to give Palatine a 25-0 rain-soaked halftime lead.

The precipitation let up in the second half but not the Palatine (7-3) onslaught.

Sutton scored again on a 2-yard run after a 12-play, 85-yard drive to open the second half, then Norman plunged in from the 1.

Senior Phil Tenca closed out the scoring with a 7-yard TD run.

Tom Eanes added 70 yards on 12 carries and caught 4 passes, while quarterback Matt Rossi completed 8-of-14 through the air for 123 yards.

Senior Chris Blackmon led the Lane (7-3) attack with 72 rushing yards.

"We knew they were going to go shotgun," said junior linebacker Ryan Cortez, whose fumble recovery led to one of Palatine's fourth- quarter touchdowns. "They ran more than we thought they would, but we were ready."