St. Charles E. rolls over Sabres
Through three games the St. Charles East football team had showed it could run the ball.
The Saints wanted to prove Friday night they can also throw it.
Senior quarterback Tim Russell 3 three first-half touchdowns as STC East routed Streamwood, 49-6, at Millennium Field.
"We really wanted to make sure we were balanced because we were a little run heavy the first few games," East coach Ted Monken said. "We wanted to use this as an opportunity to develop our quarterback, who is a first-year starter."
The Saints (3-1, 2-0 Upstate Eight) began the game by doing exactly what they have done the previous three weeks, running the ball right at the opponent. They took the opening kickoff and scored on a nine-play, 70-yard drive all on the ground. Kyle Wiebe scored the first of his two touchdowns with 7:31 remaining in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
On East's next possession, Russell hit Dan White for a 6-yard touchdown. With 5:33 left in the first half, Russell showed his athleticism, escaping the Sabres' rush and dumped the ball off to tight end Jess Striedl for a 12-yard touchdown as the Saints took a 21-0 lead.
"I didn't want to take a sack," Russell said. "I hate getting sacked. I did whatever I could. I got the ball to him. He made it happen."
Russell got a chance to run the hurry-up offense late in the first half as East began a last-minute drive at its own 32. After a couple of runs, Russell found White for a 20-yard completion to the Sabres' 24. Russell managed to get off one more snap before the halftime buzzer and Russell hit White in the back of the end zone as the Saints took a 35-6 lead.
"I like doing the spread (offense)," Russell said. "We work on that three or four times a week so we have that down."
Russell went 9-of-12 for 100 yards with the three touchdowns and no interceptions.
East also got its yards on the ground, rushing for 392 yards on 40 attempts. Wes Allen, who rushed for 405 yards in the first three games, finished with 166 yards on 19 carries. Wiebe rushed for 121 yards, including a 45-yard TD run in the third quarter, on 9 attempts. White added 89 yards rushing and had 54 yards receiving on 4 receptions.
Streamwood (0-4, 0-2) managed only 76 yards of offense. The Sabres' touchdown drive late in the second quarter, which included 43 yards of penalties against East, was capped by a 6-yard run by quarterback Noel Rivera.
"We're at that point where we're trying to gain confidence," Sabres coach Cal Cummins said. "To have the ability to take it down there before half and punch one in, I think that proves a little bit to ourselves."