Libertyville can't play spoiler

Barrington and Libertyville are accustomed to reaching for their dreams and not playing down to their nightmares.

So both schools had a chip on their shoulders when they opened the 2008 football season Friday night at Barrington after failing to make the playoffs last year.

Barrington began to relive the dream in holding off the Wildcats 21-14, using a balanced offense, a tenacious defense and timely special teams play to get it done.

On a night when Barrington dedicated its totally revamped stadium and playing surface in front of the likes of relatively low-profile boosters and NFL all-pro alumnus Gary Fencik, the Broncos used the running of Sam Ojuri (19 carries, 81 yards) and quarterback Cody Seeger (19 for 85 yards), plus Seeger's arm (13-for-20, 120 yards) and a little trickery to pull out the win.

Ojuri scored the game-clinching TD on a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter, and Seeger kept Libertyville's aggressive defense from concentrating on Ojuri with timely passing to Daniel Evers, Terrance Terry and Rodney Brown.

The trickery came late in the second quarter when Brown, on an option pass, found a wide-open Jack Schmidt for a 4-yard touchdown that gave the Broncos the lead for good.

"We've practiced that play since the beginning of the summer," said Seeger, who opened the scoring with a 7-yard toss to Dan Santoro.

Santoro had a brilliant game in occasional relief of Ojuri.

Seeger gave a lot of credit to Santoro and his offensive line.

"I've got to give it up to them. My O-line did a great job tonight," Seeger said of Trevor Laue, Adam Sellner, Eric Zetner, Gus Handler and Tyler Sinclair.

They did everything, but still, Libertyville's defense kept the game close. Andrew Jones and Dan Schutich kept Seeger scrambling, while Kevin Penny and Nate Johnson played hard on both sides of the ball.

It was Matt Persin taking over at quarterback to give the Wildcats a lift. With the game seemingly over, Persin somehow hooked up with Josh Trees for a 62-yard score that made it 21-14 with 4:28 remaining.

But defensive pressure from Jason Bromm and Alex Smith kept Libertyville from getting the tying score, especially after they pulled off a key late sack.

"I was really proud of those guys," said Barrington coach Joe Sanchez of his defense and special teams.

"We had the opportunities," said Libertyville coach Randy Kuceyeski. "We made some critical errors at critical times and shot ourselves in the foot."