Schaumburg hangs on against Palatine

A Palatine team that never gives up came up against a Schaumburg team that never lets up.

So, as you might expect, their Mid-Suburban West tilt at Palatine Friday night went down to the final 15 seconds before Schaumburg could breathe a sigh of relief in a 35-28 victory, which just might provide improved playoff seeding and perhaps a piece of the division title.

But it took some very special efforts.

From players such as quarterback Mark Iannotti, whose 347 yards in total offense were just enough to help Schaumburg (6-2, 3-1) scrape by.

"The offensive line really came to play," Iannotti said of Kyle Pollock, Mike Baumhart, Nick Nykaza, Jon Moore and Matt Zolper. They delivered for him on a 77-yard TD run in the fourth quarter that provided the winning points.

And it took another stellar effort from slick tailback Shepard Little (23 carries, 203 yards, 2 TDs), who also benefited from the line's performance and threw a key block on Iannotti's long TD scoot, as well as catching 5 passes for 54 yards.

Everyone chipped in, as Schaumburg never trailed and relentlessly wore down Palatine's already battered defense. Brandon Kibby and Kyle Lamberty, a pair of do-it-alls who go unsung, caught a combined 8 passes for 52 key yards.

And then there was the defense, which, despite surrendering almost 500 yards, didn't give an inch on a key fourth-and-goal inside the 1 in the second quarter, on a key fourth down in the third quarter in the red zone and again on Palatine's final play, Cody Bobbit's back-of-the-end-zone pass for his brother Jesse, which Schaumburg's Kevin Hilliard had snuffed out.

"I have faith in the defense," said Iannotti, who expressed confidence all the way in that situation after Palatine scored to make it 35-28 and recovered an onside kick immediately thereafter with 1:38 left in the game.

Cody Bobbit was sensational, accumulating 95 yards rushing and 313 passing, mostly to brother Jesse and to Dan Haze (11 catches, 105 yards, 1 TD). He regularly salvaged plays with his feet, buying more time or scrambling for key yardage. But don't tell him that.

"It's crazy," he said through a grimace and weary eyes after the game. "We've lost two weeks in a row (last week to Fremd) and I think we should've won both games."

Now the Pirates (4-4, 2-2) have to beat Barrington next week to earn a playoff berth.

"Bobbit is an absolute stud," said Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling, after yielding him all that yardage but stopping him on those three key fourth downs. While the coach acknowledged his defense's big plays, including Johnny Kirk's huge interception, he knew his offense erased what mistakes his defense made.

"Our offense picked us up huge," he Stilling said.

"We played our hearts out," said Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly, whose injury-plagued team always "finds a way to compete," as he put it, but couldn't finish the job despite additional heroics from wideout Nick McHugh and banged-up running back John Serio.