South Elgin hangs on to upset of T.F. South

After many great offensive plays for South Elgin, the biggest one was a 1-yard run.

With the chains out to measure and 44 seconds on the clock, the ruling was first down following a Trevor Hansley run, sealing a 20-19 Storm nonconference victory over the previously undefeated Thornton Fractional South Rebels.

The Storm (2-3) had a commanding 20-0 lead after the third quarter, but the Rebels went on a 19-0 run in the fourth, capped by a 6 yard touchdown run from Christian Gonzalez.

"I give them credit" said South Elgin Coach Dale Schabert. "They fought back. But man I'm proud of the way our kids finished."

After the Gonzalez TD, the Rebels ran a fake kick and went for 2 points, but Sean Kolber was there for the interception.

"As soon as they wound, up I knew they were faking it," Kolber said. "I just backed up, and I was there to make the play."

After the Storm defense allowed no first downs in the first half and 20 total yards, the Rebels found their stride in the second half, including two TD passes from Ben Berridge to Ryan Mizgate in the fourth quarter.

The Storm offense went to work early, scoring two first-quarter TDs as Pat Rae threw 10 yard and 6 yard passes to Josh Smith and Shawn Ryan respectively. Rae finished the game 11-of-17 with 133 yards passing.

"Well, after last week we made a turn around," Rae said. "After beating Elgin we just felt more confident. I felt great out there."

The Storm could have had a 21-0 lead entering halftime but a 20-yard TD pass from Rae to Phillip Kawabata was taken away on a penalty. However, David Reisner gave the Storm a 17-0 lead after he kicked a 36-yard field goal on the same drive. Reisner also added a 38-yarder in the third quarter.

"We're becoming a better football team," Schabert said. "We had a great Monday and Tuesday practice, and the kids came out today motivated."

The Storm also collected 178 yards on the ground with Brad Birchfield running for 85 of them.