Cougars take offense in statement victory
High School football players have good memories. With the sting of being picked back in August for sixth place in the Mid-Suburban West still fresh in their minds, Conant's Cougars opened their division campaign with an offensive explosion, all designed to earn some respect.
Quarterback Sean Smith had dream game with 426 total yards to lead the Cougars (3-2, 1-0) to a thrilling 40-34 victory over visiting Palatine on Friday. Smith rushed 31 times for 144 yards and 2 touchdowns and completed 7 of 10 passes for 282 yards and 2 more scores.
What made the game even more memorable was the performance by his counterpart on the Palatine sideline. Matt Rossi amassed 428 yards total offense, 377 through the air and another 51 on the ground. He completed 24-of-42, including a pair of touchdown passes to John Sakellaris.
Smith's first touchdown pass to Ryan Amundson (3 catches, 166 yards) was a 66-yarder to propel the Cougars to a 7-3 lead with 7:06 left in the quarter. Smith and Kendall Lane (2 touchdowns) hooked up for an 83-yard pass-and-run to the Pirates 14, and three plays later, Lane scored from 3 yards. Lane left the game with a concussion in the fourth quarter.
Conant led 20-3 early in the second quarter before the Pirates got untracked, cutting the lead to 33-22 at halftime. James Silveira (10 receptions, 176 yards) scored on a 1-yard run, and Rossi found Sakellaris on 9- and 11-yard scoring passes.
Those were answered by a 65-yard Smith to Amundson strike and a 1-yard run by Lane.
"That was a new play we put in this week," Amundson said of his first scoring play. "We thought we'd surprise Palatine. We've been working hard all season. We were mad that we were picked last."
"Teams underestimate us," Smith said. "The paper ranked us last, and we didn't like it."
Palatine made the Conant sideline nervous down the stretch. Even after Smith's second touchdown run made it 40-28 with 3:13 left, the Pirates had something left.
Rossi completed passes of 22 and 27 yards to Silveira and 15 to Sakellaris, setting up Jack Hansen's 3-yard score with 2:30 remaining. He finished with 115 yards in 12 carries.
Amundson's second punt of the game gave Palatine possession at its 17 with 44.8 seconds left, but the clock wound down before the Pirates could reach midfield.
"Our plan was to run the ball and keep Rossi on the sidelines, but they changed up on us and forced our hand," Conant coach Bill Modelski said. "A couple of those throws were phenomenal, right on the money."
"The whole game, we felt we could move the ball," said Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly. "The offense played really well and is getting better each week. We never thought we'd give up 40 points."