Barrington continues effort to even record with win against Palatine

An 0-4 start to a prep football campaign is no longer the death knell for a season that it used to be.

Take for example Barrington, which opened its season that way for the first time since 1947 as it faced a nondivisional slate that went a combined 14-2 in its first four games.

However, the Broncos began to bounce back when Mid-Suburban West play last week with a home win over Hoffman Estates.

Thanks to its ability to post dominant performances on both sides of the ball Friday night at Palatine, the Broncos earned a 31-0 victory to move to 2-0 in the MSL West and 2-4 overall.

The Pirates dropped to 2-4 and 0-2.

“I'm really proud of our boys, our coaches and our resilience,” Barrington coach Joe Sanchez said.

“It's certainly something we've talked about. The first four games didn't go the way we wanted, but we played really good football teams (Lyons Township, Naperville North, Lincoln-Way Central and Hersey) and there was a lot more progress being made than maybe people could see and we're starting to see it now. We took another step tonight.”

The Broncos two-quarterback attack of junior Archer Haley and senior Vince Costa helped guide them to a 14-0 halftime advantage as Costa scored on a pair of quarterback keepers from 15 yards out in the first quarter and 18 yards out in the second.

Then, in the play of the night, junior running back Lamar Osterhues (23 carries, 193 yards) blazed his way through the Pirates defense for a 90-yard scoring run that made it 21-0 with 7:21 left in the third.

Costa (six carries, 71 yards) added his third TD jaunt from 25 yards out with 8:03 to play for a 28-0 advantage before a 35-yard field goal from junior Jack Hills with 2:50 left closed the scoring.

Costa gave credit to the Barrington offensive line of Andrew Haley, Finn Edstrom, Francisco Garcia, Malcolm George and Jack Kavanagh for leading the way

“Having them plus Lamar makes the job a lot easier,” Costa said. “But we're here to battle. We know who we are. The first four games really tested us. We will be ready for Conant.”