Palatine powers past Barrington
Vince Serio helped Palatine steal a 24-14 win over host Barrington on Friday night.
Serio came up with a huge strip in the second quarter that turned the tide as Palatine (6-2, 4-0) stunned previously unbeaten Barrington.
The win guarantees the Pirates a share of the MSL West title, and they can win the title outright with a win over Schaumburg next Friday.
"We didn't make any kind of major adjustments," said Palatine coach Rick Splitt. "It was all the kids. They just didn't want to lose."
Barrington (7-1, 3-1) appeared to have things under control early in the game.
The Broncos led 14-0 and were driving for a third touchdown. That's when Serio turned the game around for the Pirates.
After a Barrington receiver had caught a pass for a first down at the Palatine 25, Serio came from behind, took the ball away, and returned it to midfield.
"I knew we had to make a big play," Serio said. "I just came up behind him and he never saw me. I just took the ball away and began to run."
Splitt said that play changed the way his team approached the game.
"Barrington was moving the ball like crazy," Splitt said. "And then he comes up with a play like that and it sparks everything. It is the game of football. You got to pick each other up. And these kids do that."
Re-energized by the play, Palatine, which had just one first down at this point in the game, began to get off the ball at the line of scrimmage.
Running behind Quinn Gerdes, Matt Kerlin, Tommy Sobotka, Mark Scherer and Carsten Andersen, Chris Cornelius (14 carries, 50 yards) began to gash the Broncos with runs up the middle. Cornelius capped the 10-play drive with a 4-yard run to make it 14-7 with 4:56 left in the first half.
On Barrington's next possession, Palatine's defense came up with another big play, as Dillon McHugh picked off a pass at the Barrington 35.
Five plays later, Cornelius scored on an 11-yard burst to tie the game at 14.
Jovone Stricker helped the Pirates get over the top in the fourth quarter. The junior, who was out for a couple of games with an injury, had a huge night.
The slot back caught 6 passes for 135 yards, but none bigger than the one that came in the fourth quarter.
After the teams exchanged 7 punts, Palatine had the ball at its own 44 with just under nine minutes to play.
On the first play from scrimmage, Nick Orlando found Stricker racing down the middle of the field.
Orlando dropped the ball right into Stricker's hands and Stricker outran the defenders to the end zone to make it 21-14 with 8:31 to play.
"We got a big stop, so we wanted to take a shot," said Orlando, who was 8-of-17 for 161 yards. "It was a big play."
Stricker, who got help from fellow receivers Matt Lamm and Joey Roy who helped draw attention away, wasn't surprised the ball was thrown to him.
"It was a great feeling," Stricker said. "It was a 'go' pattern and I just ran up the field. Nick threw the ball perfectly and I just ran from there."
After another defensive stop, Palatine was able to control the ball and the clock.
The Pirates moved the ball down to the Barrington 13 where Michael Hilmer nailed a 30-yard field goal to give the Pirates a 24-14 lead with 3:11 to play.
Barrington got the ball to the Pirates' 28, but two consecutive sacks and two incomplete passes ended the final threat.
"This is a very unselfish team," Splitt said. "They are all buddies and they are jacked up for each other."
It was Barrington that was jacked up early. The Broncos had 9 first downs in the first quarter and led 7-0 on 2-yard run by JT Henderson.
Barrington made it 14-0 early in the second quarter on a 21-yard touchdown pass on a screen play from Johnny Davidson (22-of-36, 268 yards) to Scotty Miller.
But Palatine's defense took over from there. Led by Serio, McHugh, Mike Williams, Jason Lopez, Waylan Washington, Nicholas Nelson and Ethan Senner, the Pirates held Barrington to just 8 first downs the rest of the way and just four in the second half.
"Their kids made plays tonight," said Barrington coach Joe Sanchez said. "It was a close-fought ball game. But they strung more plays together when it counted."