Palatine makes a stand

It took 21 games. Two pass interceptions. One fumble recovery. And one phenomenal goal-line stand.

But Fremd's Mid-Suburban West winning streak is over, and cross-town rival Palatine is now part of a four-way logjam atop the division (5-2, 2-1).

When Pirate junior defensive back Joe Pelnar dove into the pile on fourth-and-goal for Fremd at the Palatine 1 with a little over a minute left, he managed to get a clean lick on Fremd's Zenon Kolakowski and stuffed him for no gain to preserve a 28-21 Pirate homecoming victory.

Pelnar admitted he had an advantage: "They only have three plays for that formation," he noted after a week of studying Fremd's offense inside out and backwards. And Kolakowski, the scatback who plays quarterback only in that situation, had already scored on that play earlier. Pelnar got a clean shot at him this time, he said, because, "(Fremd) blocked down on the linebacker. They probably thought I'd be too far back."

And so Palatine barely escaped after building a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. "We started off real strong," said running back/wideout James Silveira, who scored two TDs, one on a nifty run after taking a Matt Rossi toss from Fremd's 27 and the other on a beautifully executed 11-yard option reverse that had Fremd's entire defense going the other way.

"We had to keep telling ourselves at halftime, we're up 14 points because they're offense was starting to pick it up."

Indeed Fremd was picking it up on offense. Mike Tauchman, who had tossed two costly first-half interceptions, atoned with an 18-for-28 second half for 177 yards and no picks. Trapped on seemingly every long-yardage play by Palatine's fierce pass rush from Phillip Brand, Brock Tenca and Steven Korus, he managed to find Andrew Corso 15 times for 247 yards on the night, some of them spectacular grabs followed by sensational runs-after-catch.

"He's a beast," Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly said in complimenting him. He and Tauchman paced a comeback that seized the momentum and offset Palatine's shutting down of the Viking (5-2, 2-1) running game (71 yards).

In addition to stopping the last-minute goal-line opportunity, the Pirates turned back the Vikes inside the 20 just five minutes before that when the secondary stopped Kolakowski again, this time just short of a first down after taking a pass from Tauchman (32-of-49, 382 yards).

"The defense stepped up a lot," said Rossi. "They played their (butts) off."

"You've got to give them credit," said Viking coach Mike Donatucci. "Rossi picked us apart in the first half."

But it was the missed scoring chances he lamented.

"We had an opportunity to score there," he said pointing one way on the postgame playing surface, before repeating the very same phrase and pointing to just a slightly different spot to designate the other failed possession that could've tied the game.

Yet, "We could've put our tails behind our heads. We didn't. These kids have had a target on their backs for 33 games."

Both teams are playoff-bound, but only Palatine controls its own destiny in the division title race.

"It's a great feeling," to have beaten Barrington and Fremd back to back, said Silveira. "After the loss to Conant, we had to come back."