Top-ranked Schaumburg hunts down Rolling Meadows

Yes, Schaumburg is unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in Class 8A in state football. But just how good are the Saxons?

After Friday's night impressive 47-6 Mid-Suburban crossover win at Rolling Meadows, they remain unbeaten (3-0). More importantly, to their coach and players, they remain focused and not giddy about the love from the Associated Press state poll.

"Coach (Mark Stilling) was talking to us about not being the hunted, but the hunter," said star running back Shepard Little, whose 5 touchdowns and 108 yards rushing helped Schaumburg race to a 41-0 lead after three quarters.

"We talk to our kids all the time about being performance-oriented," said Stilling.

It has paid off. Operating like a slick machine, the Saxons never punted, rolled up 413 yards of balanced and well-distributed total offense and clamped down on the Mustangs (1-2) defensively in registering the victory. One possession just seemed to roll into another fluidly as the offense kept finding the end zone and the defense kept getting off the field quickly.

Little rang up the game's first 5 touchdowns, on runs of 9, 18, 13 and 3 yards and a 58-yard screen pass from field general Mark Iannotti (10-for-15 passing, 128 yards).

The screen pass in period two "... was a great play (that) caught them off-guard," said Little.

Schaumburg's offensive line of Jon Moore, Mike Baumhart, Nick Nykaza, Kyle Pollock and Matt Zolper were in command.

"That offensive line is doing the job," said Stilling. "Their effort cannot be overlooked."

Schaumburg racked up 285 yards rushing on 38 carries. Iannotti had 28 yards and back-up tailback Brandon Kibby had 121 yards, including second-half TDs of 11 and 54 yards.

But Stilling wanted to focus on his defense, which limited short-handed Meadows to 13 yards rushing and 133 yards total offense.

The Saxons forced a pair of three-and-out possessions in the first half and turned away the Mustangs' best scoring opportunities. They stopped the Mustangs on fourth-and-4 in Saxon territory after Kevin Cwynar passed them down the field. They stopped Meadows again inside the 30, again after Cwynar moved the Mustangs downfield, when Dru Richardson forced an incompletion with his coverage of Ryan Gundersen, Cwynar's prime target.

The Saxons were able to continually turn away the Mustangs thanks to the interior line play of Joe Zolper and Co. and the pass defense of Richardson, Eric Carlson, Kevin Hilliard and Bob Quilico.

"I thought our pursuit was good," said Stilling. "We're pretty focused on doing our roles and doing it to the best of our ability."

Meadows was convinced. "They're really good," said Mustangs coach Doug Millsaps. "They're well-balanced. I think the quarterback (Iannotti) controlled the game.

"I was impressed with them coming in," he continued.

Nonetheless, he realized his team left some points on the field, especially after being stopped - and sometimes stopping themselves - on those fourth-down situations in Saxons territory.

"We missed a few things," he said.

That would include bodies. The Mustangs had to suit up the nine healthy sophomores they had left to supplement the 28 varsity bodies they finished the previous week with, which meant no sophomore game.

Millsaps expects some key bodies back healthy next week for the varsity and knows his team is better than what it showed Friday night.

"We definitely are," he said. "We're just beat up right now. I'm confident they'll come back."