Big plays from Fager, Evans push Palatine past Rolling Meadows
Palatine was happy to get off to a hot start in their 2025 opener as playmakers Kole Fager and Jayden Evans led the way with five combined touchdowns as the Pirates claimed a 39-22 road victory over Rolling Meadows on Friday evening.
The Pirates had dropped their opening matchup in each of the past two seasons, so they entered this season with a little extra motivation.
“Historically, Palatine is not really a Week One team,” said Fager. “But I think we all love to prove people wrong and just prove all of the odds not to be true.”
While Palatine got their season started on a positive note, they certainly had to work for it.
Rolling Meadows got the scoring started early in this one, as Luke Harvey sprinted into open field and took the first play of the season 66-yards for a Mustang touchdown.
“The moral and the message of the whole week was just to believe, and believe that we have a chance, believe that we can stay in the game,” said first year Rolling Meadows coach Devonte Amos. “And I think ultimately what that first play did for us was solidify that belief and pretty much make it a reality.”
After a successful Mustang two point conversion made it 8-0, Palatine struck back with two scores of their own.
Pirate quarterback Will Santiago found Fager for a 23-yard score, followed by a Fager two point catch. The dynamic Palatine wideout continued his big evening with a 5-yard carry to give his team a 15-8 lead to close the opening quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Santiago found Evans on a 14-yard strike to extend the Palatine lead to two scores.
The Pirates were threatening to add on again late in the half as Fager caught another long pass and raced towards the red zone; however, Mustang defender Keeling Murray stripped him from behind, scooped up the ball, and flipped the momentum with a 73-yard return that kept Rolling Meadows’ hopes alive.
“I had a conversation with Murray before the game and told him that there's going to be some point in this game where you pretty much make a big play for us,” said Amos.
“Ultimately, at that time in the game, you could tell our sideline was starting to deflate a little bit [and] momentum was swinging in Palatine's way…that's exactly what we needed and that kind of brought us some life and ultimately kind of helped us stay in the game,” added Amos.
On the ensuing possession, Mustang quarterback Joe Brigham heaved a 4th down hail mary to receiver Jack Andersen for a 28-yard score to briefly tie things up before a Palatine field goal gave the Pirates the lead heading into the intermission.
The pace slowed down after the half, as the highlight of a scoreless third quarter was a Gabe Gallo fumble recovery for Rolling Meadows, ending a potential Palatine scoring drive.
Evans opened the fourth quarter with his second touchdown catch of the night on a 13-yard pass from Santiago before the Rolling Meadows upset bid ran out of steam in the final quarter as their offense could not sustain a comeback drive.
“Outside of a few big plays, three big plays, we defended them pretty well,” said Palatine head coach Corey Olson. “That's an area of concern, but if you take those three plays out of the game, I thought our young defense did a pretty good job, and I liked the way they played in the second half.”