Palatine puts an end to Fremd's impressive run
Palatine's stop of a run 1 yard from the end zone finished two of the longest runs of success in Mid-Suburban League football history.
The Pirates' goal-line stand capped by Joe Pelnar's fourth-and-goal tackle with 1:11 to play sealed a 28-21 over cross-town rival Fremd on Friday night.
It also ended winning streaks of 21 games in the West division and 33 in all MSL games by the Vikings. Palatine had the longest previous winning streaks of 16 in division games and 27 in all MSL games from 1994-98.
Fremd didn't give up its streaks easily after falling behind 21-0 and 28-7.
"They're not going to quit and they aren't front-runners," said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci. "They've had a target on their backs the last 33 games and finally somebody got us. It's going to happen."
The Vikings' last MSL loss was 21-10 to Barrington in the 2004 West opener. They haven't lost consecutive division games since 2000 to Schaumburg and Palatine.
The Vikings face another prolific offense Friday when they host Barrington. Fremd held Palatine scoreless after allowing 28 points in the first 15 minutes.
"They could have put their tails between their ends when it was 21-0 and they didn't," Donatucci said. "We fixed the problems we had and shut them out in the second half."
Interceptions by Jimmy LaCapra and Jamie Silveira set up the Pirates' first 2 touchdowns.
"The biggest thing holding us back was ourselves," said Fremd quarterback Mike Tauchman. "You can't give that good of an offense the ball that many times off turnovers.
"Every game there's something you can build off of and we'll go in and look at the tape and find what we did well and what we need to work on. The regular season is about getting ready for the postseason."
Tauchman and receiver Andrew Corso produced single-game, record-setting performances against the Pirates. Tauchman's were 400 yards of total offense, 377 yards passing, 31 completions and 47 pass attempts.
Corso set records with 14 catches for 241 yards.
"He's good," said Palatine senior defensive lineman Brock Tenca of Corso's array of dazzling catches.
"He's a competitor," Donatucci said. "Him and No. 14 (Tauchman) are competitors."
Beast of the East: That will be at stake at 7:30 p.m. Friday when Wheeling (5-2, 3-0) visits Prospect (5-2, 3-0) in an MSL East showdown.
Wheeling shared the East crown last year and shared MSL North titles in 1994 and 1988. Its last outright division title was 1985.
Prospect won outright East titles in 2001, '03, '05 and '06.
Playoff for the playoffs: Schaumburg's first home game on its new field turf at 7:30 p.m. Friday with Conant all but assures the winner of a 10th game.
Both are 4-3 and at 5 wins would have more than enough playoff points to make the 256-team field. Conant figures to be in the 42-44 playoff point range and Schaumburg could reach 50. Conant hosts Barrington and Schaumburg is at Palatine to end the regular season.