Elgin holds off furious St. Charles E. comeback
What began as a comedy, nearly ended in a tragedy for Elgin at Norris Stadium in St. Charles Friday night. Leading 27-6 partially into the third quarter, the Maroons hung on in the final seconds to defeat a Saints team that wouldn't quit, 27-24, in an Upstate Eight Conference River Division game.
The win makes Elgin playoff eligible, and the Maroons can clinch their first playoff berth since 2001 next week against Metea Valley at home. The last time Elgin defeated St. Charles East was also 2001.
Junior tailback Dennis Moore not only scored the first 2 touchdowns for the Maroons, but also came up with a key interception with 1:17 left in the game and the Saints driving for the winning score.
Moore capped off Elgin's first drive with a 1-yard run, and sprinted 67 yards for the Maroons' second score to give the visitors a 13-0 lead just minutes into the second quarter. Elgin (5-3, 4-2) forced St. Charles East (2-6, 1-4) to punt on its next possession, and senior Jordan Dean darted up the middle and down the left hash mark 45 yards to give the Maroons a seemingly commanding 20-0 lead.
The Saints, who managed only 4 first downs in the first half, finally got on the board midway through the second quarter when junior quarterback Charlie Fisher led the diving Zach Zajicek for a 28-yard touchdown.
On their first drive of the third quarter, the Maroons added another score for a 27-6 lead.
Senior quarterback Lee Jackson found Earl Holloway over the middle for 10 yards, but Holloway broke several tackles and eluded defenders for a 55-yard touchdown with 9:45 left in the third quarter.
St. Charles East soon found some continuity in its offense. Five straight running plays for over 4 yards each moved the ball to midfield, and a 20-yard pass play from Fisher to Zajicek brought the Saints inside the 30. Five plays later on third and goal, Fisher found sophomore Joe Hoscheit for a 6-yard touchdown pass.
The Saints weren't done just yet, recovering an onside kick at the Maroons' 48. Mike Brown's 45-yard run got St. Charles East inside the Maroons' 3-yard line, and Fisher scored from 1 yard out on a keeper several plays later to make the score 27-18.
Elgin nearly gave the Saints an easy touchdown by fumbling the ensuing kick off at the 1-yard line, but the ball went into the end zone and out of bounds before it was recovered and was ruled a touchback.
Brown scored St. Charles East's final touchdown with 2:12 left in the game to close the score to 27-24, but the Saints had a chance for the winning score after recovering a Maroons fumble with less than two minutes to play. East drove to the Maroons' 28-yard line, but a diving interception by Moore of Fisher's long pass sealed it.
“What a great high school football game, Saints coach Mike Fields said.
“I give our kids all the credit in the world, and I give Elgin a ton of credit as well. I have a lot of respect for (Elgin) coach (Dave) Bierman. Our kids just kept fighting, and that's what I'm most proud of with these kids. They didn't quit on each other and just kept playing hard. This one hurts, though, I'm not going to lie, but we've got one more game left, so we'll keep working hard.
“You have to give St. Charles East and coach Fields credit for battling back, Bierman said. “It was an exciting game.