Palatine produces
Jesse Bobbit gave the Palatine defensive secondary a huge lift Friday as the Pirates rolled past Elk Grove 42-21 in a Mid-Suburban League crossover at Chic Anderson Field in Palatine on Friday.
Bobbit, who’d been sidelined the first two games of the season with a shoulder injury, had one of the Pirates’ 4 interceptions as Palatine limited Elk Grove quarterback Adam O’Malley to just 105 yards on 15-of-25 passing.
“It was good to be back out there,” Bobbit said. “They are a passing team and they like to go deep. We worked hard to take that away from them.”
Bobbit had plenty of help in the secondary as Dan Riddle, Joshua Mackey and Luke Rago also had interceptions while Tom McHugh, Bobby Iacullo, Tom Holloway and Bradley Bauer chipped in to blanket the Elk Grove receivers.
“We are getting there,” Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly said. “And when we get (Cam ) Kuksa back, it will look outstanding.”
Palatine (2-1) looked as though it was going to take everything away from Elk Grove early. The Pirates’ Ethan Olles, who was 18-for-28 for 341 yards, hit Ryan Gronwick on Palatine’s first play from scrimmage on a 45-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0.
Three plays after Riddle’s pick, the Pirates found the end zone again as Olles connected with Eric Theis (6 receptions, 114 yards) to give the Pirates a 14-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
Elk Grove (2-1) then took advantage of one of Palatine’s 5 turnovers to climb back into the game.
Following a fumble recovery by Jonathan Ebert, Travon Royal bolted 65 yards to make it 14-7. On the Grenadiers’ next possession, O’Malley hooked up with Mike Bishoff on an 8-yard touchdown pass on a screen play to tie the game at 14 with 10:31 left in the first half.
Palatine took the lead for good at 21-14 when Olles and Theis connected again from 21-yards out. This time Theis used his 6-foot-3 frame to outduel two Elk Grove defenders for the touchdown with 6:26 left in the first half.
“We noticed that they were biting on our single moves,” Theis said. “So we decided to make one single cut and then go back outside. Everything we were doing was working.”
Olles drove the Pirates downfield just before the half to make it 27-14 Palatine. Olles completed a 44-yard pass to Alex Nawrot, who was tackled at the 1. John Serio then blasted over on the next play to give the Pirates some breathing room.
“We have great receivers who can catch the ball well,” Olles said. “And they run well after they get it, too.
Elk Grove closed to 27-21 with 7:05 left in the third quarter as O’Malley found Bishoff for the second time for 16-yard touchdown.
But Palatine, which finished with 507 yards of offense, closed the door as Serio added a 5-yard touchdown run on the Pirates’ next possession. Rago iced it with an 8-yard scoring run with 9:58 to play.
“We didn’t execute as well as we needed to,” Elk Grove coach Larry Calhoun said. “This did not define our season. We still have the same goals and aspirations.”