Haley leads Barrington to first victory of the season, topping Hoffman Estates
Barrington junior Archer Haley was the next man up on Friday night.
After Barrington lost its first four games — with three starting quarterbacks — Haley was next in line to play QB1.
His primary job was to run the offense, stay away from turnovers and move the chains. More importantly, Haley was in charge of leading the Broncos to their first victory of the season.
The Broncos were in unfamiliar territory in Week 5 after losses to Lyons Twp., Lincoln-Way Central, Naperville North and Hersey put the possibility of a winning regular-season record in jeopardy.
The Broncos’ first four opponents had a combined 14-2 record, so Friday’s Mid-Suburban League West Division opener against Hoffman Estates served as a better measuring stick.
Haley handled the promotion, leading Barrington to three straight touchdowns drives to start the game in a 49-21 rout over Hoffman Estates.
Haley had an efficient game with 91 yards passing and 42 yards rushing.
“Coach told me to do my job and do what I was told to do and not be Superman out there,” Haley said of the game plan for him. “My teammates and my coaches believed in me for my first start. It was great to score early.”
The Broncos (1-4, 1-0) overpowered the Hawks (2-3, 0-1) with two touchdowns by Vince Costa in the first quarter, a 20-yard TD run by Lamar Osterhues and a fumble recovery off a punt in the end zone by Costa for a 28-0 lead at halftime.
Costa had a game to remember, scoring a pair of rushing TDs, recovering a fumble for a score on special teams and hauling in a 75-yard touchdown grab in the first minute of the third quarter. Costa’s four TD effort highlighted the strong game for the offense.
Costa made Haley’s first start an easy one with his opportunistic running and work on special teams. The 5-foot-9, 160-pound senior capped Barrington’s first scoring drive with a 3-yard TD run on fourth down. The Broncos converted both of their fourth-down attempts on the possession for a 7-0 lead with 4:48 on the clock.
On the second drive Costa busted through the line and darted 64 yards for a touchdown to expand the lead to 14-0.
At the start of the second half, Costa went back to work by taking a short slant pass from Haley and racing 75 yards for a touchdown to balloon the lead to 35-0.
“That play was our first receiving touchdown of the season, and I saw the defender behind me and just turned on the burners,” Costa said.
Down 35-0, Hoffman Estates’ offense woke up early in the third quarter, when quarterback Shion Dailey lofted a 10-yard TD pass to Mason Walker to cap an impressive drive. Barrington’s defense answered back to secure the Broncos a rare trifecta of touchdowns — offense, defense and special teams — when Max Wrzeszcz leaped high for an interception and weaved his way for a 22-yard TD to push to 42-7.
“Once I picked it off and just had to get into the end zone,” Wrzeszcz said. “I saw everyone drifting, so I put my head down and do what I could for the team and get into the end zone. We played such a hard schedule at the beginning of the season, but it sets us up for later in the year and to peak at the end of the year.”
Barrington’s defense made a big statement by limiting Hoffman Estates to 30 yards rushing, while Dailey passed for 191 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Running back Terrance Blarak added TD runs of 10 and 41 yards in the fourth quarter for the Hawks.