Right turn for Palatine

Palatine was taking advantage of what visiting Rolling Meadows was giving away in Friday night's Mid-Suburban League football crossover at Chic Anderson Stadium.

The Pirates' first touchdown and last two in the third quarter came on short fields set up by turnovers as they pulled away to a 28-12 victory.

"We definitely did that very well, capitalizing on those interceptions and fumbles and big plays," said Palatine linebacker-tailback Jim Smearman, who rushed for 122 yards on 28 carries.

Sophomore Jesse Bobbit and senior Rory Fritz had interceptions. Fumble recoveries by Egan Malley and Kurt Becker set up the scores to help Palatine (1-1) break away after Meadows (1-1) rallied to within 14-12 at halftime.

"You can't turn the ball over that many times (six) and have a chance," said Meadows coach Doug Millsaps, whose team also had two stalled drives inside the Palatine 20. "We re-wrote the recipe for losing.

"Our defense was on the field the entire third quarter and made some good stops. Wow, I never thought we'd play worse than we practiced all week and that happened."

Palatine went three-and-out to start the second half but kept possession after a mishandled punt at Meadows' 33.

Quarterback Cody Bobbit (14-for-19 passing, 129 yards) lost a fumble recovered by Sean Connor at the Meadows 9. But two plays later, Malley sprinted in to fall on a botched snap and that led to Bobbit's 3-yard scoring run on third-and-goal.

"The defense in the second half is where we won it," said Bobbit, who also dived in from 2 yards on third-and-goal for Palatine's first touchdown. "I lost the snap but we got it right back and right back again."

That one came two plays later when Becker came up with a fumble at the Meadows' 40. Bobbit's 9-yard touchdown pass to Dan Haze was the third third-down conversion on the short drive.

"I was very concerned how we were going to come out at halftime and I'm sure Doug was, too," said Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly. "I was most impressed with the third quarter. I thought we upped the intensity a little bit."

Especially after the Pirates lost the early momentum it started building when Jesse Bobbit intercepted Kevin Cwynar (9-for-21, 88 yards) and returned it 27 yards on the game's third play.

"That gave us some really big momentum," Bobbit said of setting up his brother's first touchdown. "All the defensive backs and (assistant) coach (Sergio) Lund) watched the film and most of their routes were seam routes so I knew it was coming."

Smearman's 19-yard touchdown run capped a 74-yard drive. Meadows responded with touchdowns by Cwynar on a 4-yard run and a 20-yard pass on fourth down 46 seconds before halftime to Artie Checchin.

"They came back well," Smearman said. "But we played good defense and the turnovers were key for us."