Red-hot Bartlett cruises past Dunbar
Make it 7 straight wins and counting for the red-hot Bartlett Hawks.
Making their triumphant return to the Class 8A playoffs after a one-year absence, the Hawks converted early turnovers into points and went on to trounce Dunbar in a first-round playoff game at Millennium Field in Streamwood, 55-14.
Senior tailback Andrew Puccini rushed for 124 yards and 3 touchdowns and senior tight end Russ Martin caught 4 touchdown passes from junior quarterback AJ Bilyeu.
No. 5 Bartlett (8-2) forced 7 fumbles, recovered 4 of them and Zach Karys made an interception as the defense limited No. 12 Dunbar (5-5) to 247 total yards.
Their seventh consecutive victory ties the Hawks with the 2004 team for the second-longest winning streak in school history. The 2008 team that finished 12-1 and reached a Class 8A semifinal holds the record.
"We just wanted to set the tempo for the playoffs," Bilyeu said.
"We know how good we are. It's all about executing and playing up to our potential.
"That's really what our playoff run will come down to: playing up to our potential. Our coaches know it, we know it. We've got the talent, the potential and the players. Now we just have to do it."
Bartlett advances to the second round to play the winner of today's 1 p.m. tilt between No. 13 Notre Dame (5-4) and No. 4 Maine South (7-2).
The Mightymen gave Bartlett great field position to start its first two drives. Karys intercepted Dunbar quarterback Darvell Harris on the fourth play of the game and returned it 15 yards to the Dunbar 36-yard line.
"(Harris) just overthrew the guy,"Karys said. "It looked like he was throwing it to me. I'll take it. It was a big game. We were happy about it."
Puccini put the Hawks ahead by rushing 5 straight times, capped by his 4-yard run to the end zone.
Dunbar's offense fumbled the ball away on its next play from scrimmage, and Karys recovered at the Dunbar 19. Five plays later, Puccini scored from 1 yard out to put the Hawks ahead 14-0 with 6:21 left in the first quarter.
Dunbar responded with its best drive of the game, an 80-yard, 11-play march keyed by a 20-yard pass from Darvell Harris to Eszra Harris on fourth-and-5 from the Bartlett 35.
Harris then juked his way 15 yards for a touchdown on a quarterback keeper to pull the Mightymen within 14-6, though the 2-point conversion pass failed.
Dunbar had no answer for the 6-foot-1 Martin, however. He caught a 4-yard slant pass for a score to put Bartlett ahead 21-6. After Dunbar fumbled at its own 10-yard line, Martin caught a 9-yard pass in the end zone to make it 27-6.
The senior finished with 7 catches, including a nifty one-handed grab at midfield, for 108 yards and 4 touchdowns.
"He's a vacuum," Bilyeu said of his tight end. "He sucks in everything and it's just a blessing to have him on the team."
"The bubble (screen) was working, and that set me up for somewhat of a deep ball," Martin said. "The offensive line blocked, A.J. gave me some good balls and I just caught them."
A 61-yard run by Puccini and a 34-yard scoring pass from Bilyeu to Karys made it 41-6 at halftime. Martin's third-quarter touchdown receptions of 8 and 20 yards put Bartlett ahead 55-6.
Dunbar turned the ball over 5 times.
"A lot of fumbles, a lot of mistakes," Dunbar running back Omar Collins said. "That's a tough team, but we laid down. We have to keep it up, though, because we still have the city playoffs. We can take the city."
Bartlett played well, but there's always room for improvement.
"We did some really good things, but we still have to clean some things up," Bartlett coach Tom Meaney said. "Next week, as each game gets tougher and tougher, we're going to have to play a lot better."