Broncos bounce back to beat Conant
Barrington is back, on a mission, and now things could get interesting.
The Broncos rebounded formidably Friday night from the previous week's overtime loss and walloped host Conant 33-7 to finish 3-2 in the Mid-Suburban West and go into the Class 8A playoffs with a 7-2 record and a lot of momentum and confidence.
Can they fulfill a team goal and go deep into the playoffs as they have more than once in recent years?
"I think so," said an extremely confident Sam Ojuri, who scored 4 touchdowns, rushed for 97 yards and looked as though he wanted the playoffs to start tomorrow.
But he saved his kindest words for his defense and special teams. Brad Gunderson's interception and Rodney Brown's second half-opening 68-yard kickoff return were among the highlights that enabled the Broncos to have short fields on offense.
Well, that and the offense-shattering play of defensive linemen Chris Johnson, Cam Good, Anthony Gentile and Travis Norton, who helped limit Conant to 51 yards total and minus-19 rushing.
"They set the tone," said Ojuri. "No doubt about it"
With Cody Seeger (9-of-14, 87 yards, 1 TD) running the offense efficiently and complementing Ojuri's rushing with 52 yards on 6 carries, Barrington looked very polished on both sides of the ball.
"No doubt," said Barrington coach Joe Sanchez. "Last week (a 42-41 overtime loss to Fremd) was a disappointment. In a lot of ways, (Friday night) was a playoff game."
It was for Conant too, but the Cougars, after two good-looking drives to open the game, couldn't accomplish anything. Twice they drove into Barrington territory with the game scoreless and came up empty. A third time, they had a 30-yard loss on a play with everyone chasing a fumbled, skidding football.
Conant (4-5, 2-3) coach Bill Modelski couldn't figure out how his team, with its playoff fate in its own hands two weeks ago at 4-3, ran out of gas and couldn't get it done in season-ending losses to Schaumburg and Barrington.
"I really was pleased the way we played the first seven weeks. These last two weeks, I just don't know what happened," he said.
Barrington keyed on running back Kendall Lane (10 carries, 32 yards) and forced quarterback Sean Smith to pass a slippery, wet ball under extreme pressure. He wound up 4-of-10 for 70 yards with a TD and an interception.
"We needed to be able to throw the ball," said Modelski after an emotional post-game meeting with his team.
By the time Smith hit Jeff Vercillo with a 27-yard TD pass, the outcome was well decided.