Schaumburg explodes on Warren in 55-21 win
Going into Saturday's second-round Class 8A playoff football game, it was no secret that Schaumburg had some potent offensive weapons. But even the most optimistic Saxons fan couldn't have imagined a 55-point outburst against the No. 5 seeded Warren Blue Devils, who had allowed an average of 14.1 points per game - including a pair of shutouts.
Yet the No. 13 Saxons (7-4) jumped out to an early lead and never let up, eliminating Warren 55-21 and advancing to next weekend's quarterfinals. They will host top-seeded Bartlett, time and date to be announced.
"We played one of the hardest schedules in the state," said Schaumburg quarterback Anthony Ianotti. "We played six playoff teams. That prepared us."
Schaumburg rolled up a season-high 641 yards of total offense - more than 400 in the first half. Halfback Shepard Little rushed for 227 yards and 3 touchdowns on 15 carries, and Ianotti rushed for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns on 15 carries. He also was 9-of-14 passing for 170 yards and 1 touchdown. The icing on the cake for Ianotti was a 25-yard touchdown reception on a pass thrown by his younger brother Mark.
The Saxons' rejuvenated defense did its part, too, intercepting 3 passes and making a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter that ended any thoughts of Warren pulling this one out.
"That's a good offense," said Warren coach Dave Mohapp." We knew they were going to move the ball. We haven't had anybody move it against us all year."
"The defense brought the same intensity as last week (against Glenbrook South)," Ianotti said. "We got on them early (on offense) and never stopped. On film, we noticed a lot of tendencies we could take advantage of."
"We felt we were ready to break loose," said Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling. "We want to put kids in position to play fast. One of our assets is our speed."
Ianotti showed some of that speed right away with a 63-yard run with 5:31 left in the first quarter, and when Alex Coglianese intercepted Zach Shaw at the Warren 25, Schaumburg struck quickly with a play added this week.
Anthony Ianotti tossed a lateral to Mark Ianotti near the numbers on the left side of the field and took off around his right end. Mark led Anthony perfectly with the pass to put Schaumburg ahead 14-0.
Shaw (10 of 28 for 178 yards) connected with Ryan Maguire behind a defender for a 43-yard touchdown with 2:50 left in the first quarter, the closest Warren (9-2) would come the rest of the game.
Anthony Ianotti hooked up with Josh Spandiary for a 23-yard scoring pass with 33.1 seconds left in the quarter, and Little scored the first of his 3 touchdowns from 15 yards out with 9:01 left in the half to give the Saxons a 27-7 lead. Little's 28-yard run with 1:57 left in the half made it 34-7.
The Blue Devils had a glimmer of hope after Tom Lindal's 10-yard touchdown run with 9:31 left in the third quarter, but trading points was the best they could do. Ianotti's 21-yard run made it 41-14. Tyreese Woodard scored from 2 yards out to cut the deficit to 41-21, but Schaumburg scored twice more, a 15-yard run by Little and a 15-yarder by Ianotti.