Crystal Lake South surprises Bartlett with rout
The football players and staff from Crystal Lake South believed they could win at Bartlett Friday night, but not even the most confident Gator could have predicted a 40-0 blowout victory in a nonconference meeting between 2008 state semifinalists.
"I'm kind of speechless," CL South coach Jim Stuglis said. "I think we played better than we ever anticipated. I thought things would be a little different, but things got rolling and the kids kept getting after it, so good things happened for us."
The final statistics told the tale of CL South's complete domination.
• The Gators outgained Bartlett 326 yards to 28.
• The Bartlett offense attempted 14 rushes for negative-5 yards
• CL South held the Hawks without a first down until 8:35 remained in the fourth quarter and to 2 first downs overall.
• Kameron Scott's 24-yard touchdown with 9:35 left in the game put Hawks on the business end of a running clock for the first time in coach Tom Meaney's 7 seasons.
It was a harsh wake-up call for Bartlett (1-1), which dominated Hoffman Estates 47-0 last week.
"As well as we played last week, we played the opposite this week," Meaney said. "Hoffman Estates, we came in there and did pretty good in all three phases. This week it wasn't meant to be from the beginning. I mean, (Zach) Konstanzer runs a nice (opening) kickoff back and broke his clavicle. The defense broke down, the offense couldn't get a first down and the special teams had their blunders too."
The CL South defensive line of junior tackles Fahn Cooper (6-foot-6-, 270 pounds) and Brett Barchard (6-2, 215) and senior nose tackle Sam McCole (6-3, 280) were complimented by both coaches for their outstanding play.
"It all starts up front," Cooper said. "If the defensive line has a good game, it frees it up for all the other guys to make plays."
CL South senior cornerback Alec Giles set up his offense in the first quarter by intercepting a pass at the Bartlett 32-yard line and returning it to the 13. Junior running back Bolek Mikulec (9 carries, 51 yards) scored 5 plays later from 3 yards out and kicked the first of his 5 extra points to make it 7-0 with 5:59 left.
In the second quarter Bartlett shanked a 3-yard punt that was returned to the Hawks' 12-yard line. Three plays later junior quarterback Drew Ormseth hit Giles on a curl at the goal line for an 8-yard touchdown reception.
On Bartlett's ensuing possession a high punt snap at its own 14-yard line resulted in a safety and a 16-0 lead. After a free kick the Gators took full control by driving 63 yards in 8 plays in just over 4 minutes, capped by Mikulec's second 3- yard run.
A Mikulec field goal with 2 seconds left in the second quarter gave CL South (2-0), the No. 8 team in Class 7A, a 26-0 lead. They put the game away when tight end John Walsh caught a 15-yard touchdown from Ormseth with 8;46 left in the third quarter to make the score 33-0.
"We just came out with a lot of intensity today," Giles said. "We wanted to just smack them in the mouth."