Barrington ends Schaumburg’s playoff hopes
Two plays that took fewer than 15 seconds proved to be more than Schaumburg could overcome in its bid for a fifth victory that would assure the Saxons of a berth in the IHSA football playoffs.
Barrington scored on consecutive plays to end the first half and open the second, turning a 12-7 contest in to a 26-7 margin, and the Broncos went on to win 32-16 in the Mid-Suburban West regular season finale at Gary Scholz Stadium on Friday.
The win leaves Barrington (7-2, 4-1) in sole possession of second place behind West champion Palatine, with an anticipated home game to open the playoffs next week. Schaumburg’s season ends with a 4-5 record, 2-3 in the West.
There were many standout offensive performances for the Broncos, but a pair of kickoff returns by Dylan Zyzda were instrumental in Barrington’s win.
After Sadaris Patterson’s 1-yard run cut Barrington’s lead to 12-7 with just 20.2 seconds left in the first half, Zyzda almost broke the ensuing kickoff for a score, leaving the Broncos at midfield with 7.4 seconds left.
Quarterback Mark Bennett fired a pass deep toward wide receiver Sam Handler, who raced down the middle of the field past a defender, caught the ball and trotted into the end zone with no time remaining.
“It was play-action that set it up,” said Handler, who scored Barrington’s first touchdown on a 28-yard pass from Bennett. He caught 7 passes for 110 yards.
Zyzda picked up where he left off when he fielded the second-half kickoff at his 5 yard line and headed up field. When he passed the 50, it was a footrace, with three Saxons trying in vain to catch him. The touchdown made it 26-7 with just seven seconds gone in the second half.
“It should have been 12-7 at halftime, and it was 26-7,” Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling said. “Our failure to execute was devastating.”
“The whole wedge opened up a hole,” Zyzda said of his scoring play. “We knew we could break one.”
Bennett (9-of-12) passed for 104 of his 141 yards in the first half, as the Broncos were faced with a defense stacked against the run.
Junior Justin Dragosz finished with 111 yards in 24 carries, including long runs of 30 and 34 yards.
“We have a lot of faith in Justin,” Barrington coach Joe Sanchez said. “He stepped in against Elk Grove when we needed him, and the O-linemen plus (tight end) Lee Conforti and (fullback) Daniel Davidson did a great job.
“They were playing up in the box, and we took advantage of that, and the line did a great job of protecting.
“To do what we did the last three weeks against three very good teams (wins against Conant, Fremd and Schaumburg) speaks volumes.”
Schaumburg quarterback Stacey Smith completed 16 of 25 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown.