St. Francis shocks Highlanders

They are dancing in the streets of Wheaton.

At least they were dancing on St. Francis' rain-soaked football field, where for the first time since 2000 the Spartans beat Driscoll, scoring 21 unanswered points to win 27-7 in both teams' Suburban Catholic Conference opener.

St. Francis running back Mark Kachmer gained 150 yards on 27 carries with touchdown runs of 6 and 9 yards. He broke an 83-yard kickoff return with 54 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Spartans the lead for good, 14-7.

"I figured I had to step up for the team, and they threw all the blocks downfield," said Kachmer, ignoring four broken tackles. "It was just a big motivation swing."

Driscoll coach Brandon New, whose Highlanders lost a 24-game winning streak dating to 2006, saw it as a difference-maker. Mainly, he saw a matter of "want."

"The kids were saying the field was wet, they couldn't get traction," New said. "But hey, you know what, St. Francis had traction."

That was evident as St. Francis (3-0, 1-0) ran 20 first-quarter plays to Driscoll's 3. Brett Robinson's interception set up Kachmer's 6-yard touchdown run behind left tackle Russ Kalfas for a 6-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter.

"We weren't prepared," said Driscoll quarterback Steven Schwabe, sacked 4 times. "All week we weren't there mentally, we weren't there physically and it showed in the game. Their X beat our O, simple as that."

Driscoll's sole score was set up by Schwabe's 14-yard pass to Clay Cooper to the St. Francis 1-yard line. Nick Campanella veered off left tackle Andrew O'Reilly, and Brett Warren's kick gave Driscoll a 7-6 lead at 1:10 before the half.

Short-lived it was. Kachmer caught the ensuing kickoff at his own 13, followed the wedge then slipped arm tackles before using his sprinter's speed to go all the way. He added the 2-point conversion for a 14-7 St. Francis lead.

"That was a great lift right before the half," said Spartans coach Greg Purnell.

After a scoreless third quarter in which Driscoll (2-1, 0-1) failed to gain a first down, St. Francis drove 78 yards in just less than seven minutes - Kachmer played quarterback the last six plays as Jeff Reckards' calves cramped up - to lead 21-7 on Stan Bobowski's 5-yard run and Matt Krese's kick.

Kachmer's 9-yard touchdown run came two minutes before St. Francis' fans could slosh onto the soggy field to celebrate.

"This is huge," said linebacker Ryan O'Donnell. "We haven't beaten them in a long time. We knew we had a team that could do it this year."