Palatine runs past Conant for fifth win

Anything and everything has taken place for Palatine coach Corey Olson this season.

From a three-game losing skid that came between a pair of two-game win streaks to a home loss to rival Fremd last week, the Pirates have seen it all. It left them entering their regular season finale against Conant at 4-4 at Chic Anderson Stadium Friday trying to gain playoff eligibility for the fifth consecutive year.

After a slow start the Pirates got themselves going and then proceeded to keep going as it earned win No. 5 by running past the visiting Cougars 35-7 to move to 5-4 overall and a likely postseason appearance to be officially determined by the IHSA Saturday night.

Following an interception by the Cougars’ Joey Rofus of a Will Santiago pass at the Conant 16-yard line on the home team's opening possession, the Pirates made the decision to focus on the ground game.

Palatine scored the next five times it had the ball with each one via the run. Starting with a 12-yard TD jaunt by Jayden Evans on its following possession, the hosts would gain 345 yards on the ground. Santiago would next find paydirt on another 12 yard scoring run that made it 14-0 with 1:55 left in the first.

It was made in part by the choice of the Pirates senior signal caller to take it in himself.

"On that run, I pulled that one out," Santiago said." "I'm a contact guy and I love to get hit, so our O-line set it up for me. They did a great job."

Then junior ball carrier Ray Gaspard took over as he scored Palatine's next three touchdowns: a 17-yard run with 74 seconds left in the first half which made it 21-0 at the break, and a pair of third-quarter scores of 11 and 13 yards that gave them a 35-0 advantage heading into the final frame. Gaspard wound up with 142 yards on just 13 attempts.

Caden Spizzirri's 2-yard run got Conant (3-6,1-4) on the board with 1:29 left. The Cougars received solid efforts from Nathan Kutella (26 carries, 115 yards) and Bryce Bowman (20 carries, 90 yards).

Olson paid homage to his 29 seniors who have helped keep the Pirates’ season afloat.

"They've led us all season long,“ Olson said. ”We've had our ups and downs. They've always worked hard and never complained. They've never, ever done anything but exactly what we asked them to do. I tip my cap to them."

Santiago, meanwhile, talked about having a tremendous optimism which comes from having played seven playoff qualifiers on its schedule.

"It's a great step to get into the playoffs,“ Santiago said. ”We're feeling great right now."