Saints avoid more drama vs. S. Elgin
After back-to-back, multi-overtime games, St. Charles East's football team took care of things early Friday night.
With South Elgin's defense keying on Saints tailback Wes Allen, quarterback Dan White raced 58 yards for a touchdown on their first offensive play from scrimmage. A few minutes later, senior linebacker Pat Friel intercepted a pass and took off on a 95-yard TD return to make it 14-0.
From there, the Saints (5-2, 4-1) built a 28-0 halftime advantage on their way to a 42-3 Upstate Eight Conference triumph over the Storm (2-5, 1-3) at Norris Stadium in St. Charles.
"It was nice to get started off like that," said Saints coach Ted Monken, "and for Danny (White) to get that touchdown. It's not surprising that half their defense ran right at Wes Allen.
"We knew that if we went in a different direction, we'd have a chance to move the ball on the opening play."
Allen, who had accumulated 534 yards and 12 TDs in overtime games against Lake Park and Neuqua Valley the past two weeks, hadn't even touched the ball before the Saints jumped out to a 14-0 lead, thanks to Friel's huge defensive play.
"We were in our goal line package," said Friel of the 3rd-and-10 play. "They tried a quick slant and I was lucky enough to get in front of it, jump it and take it to the house."
"Pat (quarterback Rae) made the right read," said Storm coach Dale Schabert. "The linebacker that stepped in and took it all the way back. That's a nice play by him.
"I've got no fault with that throw. I thought it was in his hands and suddenly I'm cheering for the ball going the wrong way. I probably looked pretty foolish."
What bothered Schabert more than the interception came one play earlier when one of his receivers couldn't hold on to what would have been a touchdown.
"For us, the big one was dropping that pass in the end zone," said Schabert. "We could have made it 7-7. We need that burst of energy - that's a big play for us. You tie it up there and the emotion is high on our sideline, and unfortunately the next play-
"We're not a good enough team to have that happen, put it aside and say, 'it's 14-0, let's go get 'em.'"
After Friel's first interception of the season, the Saints padded their lead with a pair of second-quarter TD runs by Allen, who finished with 198 yards on 23 carries and 4 more touchdowns.
Michael Oskorep's second fumble recovery of the game helped set up freshman David Reisner's 33-yard field goal that shaved the Saints' lead to 28-3 early in the third quarter.
"Kicking the field goal was like throwing a rock at a tank," said Schabert. "It made a little metal sound when it hit and made it 28-3. I would have liked to have had a touchdown."
Allen put the game away with second-half TD runs covering 10 and 31 yards, as the Saints now prepare for their cross-town showdown at St. Charles North (5-2, 4-1) next Friday.
"Everybody looks forward to it," said Monken.