Elk Grove topples top-ranked Schaumburg

Nobody from Elk Grove's football team was downplaying the magnitude of what it accomplished Thursday night.

And Nick Meyer had no trouble ranking the Grenadiers' drama-filled 36-34 Mid-Suburban League crossover victory at Schaumburg's Gary Scholz Stadium.

"It would have to probably be number one," Meyer said of beating the state's top-ranked Class 8A team by The Associated Press. "Coming in this was the team to beat and they are the team to beat still in the West."

But the Saxons (3-1) were beaten for the first time as Meyer was 21-for-32 passing for 227 yards and 3 touchdowns and rushed 24 times for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns.

"I thought he was very good," said Saxons coach Mark Stilling, "and he was even better than I thought."

Matt Brandt's 25-yard field goal with 3:55 left in the third quarter put Elk Grove ahead to stay 30-28. Meyer started his team's scoring with a 59-yard cutback run and finished it on a 16-yarder with 6:53 left.

Schaumburg answered with standout running back Shepard Little sidelined much of the second half with an injured hip. Mark Iannotti (14-for-18, 196 yards) threw his fourth touchdown with a 40-yarder to a wide-open Tim Schwarz.

That set up the Saxons to go for the tying 2-point conversion. Little (16 carries, 132 yards; 3 receptions, 73 yards) came back in and bounced to the right with a pitchout.

But Little was stopped short by Jimmy Sanders, John Eliades and Dejan Basara.

"I saw his first step and I saw we had to stop him," said Eliades, whose forced fumble led to Elk Grove's 27-14 lead 3:47 before halftime. "Jimmy wrapped him up, I took him down and we just finished it."

Meyer's running and a third-down pass interference penalty helped Elk Grove run out all but the last 16 seconds. Schaumburg got the ball at its 24 without any timeouts and Greg Johnsen sacked Iannotti to spark a wild celebration.

"That is without a doubt one heck of a football team," said Meyer, who also played safety all night and had the ball for 56 of Elk Grove's 60 offensive plays. "I can't get over how much of a battle this was the whole game."

Schaumburg's Joe Zolper recovered a fumble on the second play and Iannotti hit Kyle Lamberty with a 15-yard touchdown pass.

Elk Grove bounced back to lead 14-7 on Meyer's run and his option fake and 31-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Pass. Iannotti's sack-eluding 30-yard scramble tied it with 1:40 left in the first quarter.

Schaumburg seemed poised to take the lead on second-and-goal at the 1 when Little lost the ball. Pass came out with it and raced 91 yards before he was finally dragged down at the 8 and had to leave with a left knee injury.

"I was laying on the bottom of the pile and saw the ball come out," Meyer said. "Maybe he crossed the goal line but I'll take it. Seeing (Pass) go out like that doesn't feel too good."

After a penalty, Meyer hit a diving Joe Bishoff for a 15-yard touchdown A lost fumble led to Meyer hitting Eddie Solorio for a 10-yard score.

Schaumburg responded for a 28-27 lead with scores by Iannotti on a 56-yard screen pass to Little and a 13-yarder to Mike Mallett.

"You can't give up mistakes against a team like Elk Grove," Iannotti said of the Saxons' 3 turnovers. "That's what hurt us and it gives the other team momentum."