Dailey to Bond a winning combination for Hoffman Estates in win over Fremd

Hoffman Estates shone in Palatine Friday.

Shion Dailey fired a 73-yard touchdown pass to TJ Bond early in the fourth quarter. The Hawks then survived a late Fremd touchdown to stun the Vikings 7-6.

“I was confident in myself and I knew I could make the plays,” said Dailey, 12-of-14 passing for 220 yards. “At first I thought Bond was out of bounds. I was running to get to the ball and I saw him keep going. It was just unbelievable.”

Hoffman Estates coach Tim Heyse said he knew Dailey would step up.

“He is a junior,” Heyse said, “so we knew it would take time. He had his best week of practice this past week. We knew he would be good for us.”

The game was scoreless early in the fourth quarter. That’s when Dailey hit Bond right in front of the Hoffman Estates bench.

“It was a vertical by me,” Bond said of the route he ran on the pass. He finished with five catches for 140 yards. “There was a safety over the top and I knew he was there. My quarterback threw a perfect pass. I didn’t have to do much and just catch it and then I made a guy miss a tackle and I was free.”

Mistakes cost Fremd (5-2, 2-1). The Vikings had two touchdowns called back on penalties, dropped two wide-open touchdown passes, missed two field-goal attempts and fumbled inside the 25.

Still the Vikings had a chance to come back.

With a minute and a half to play, Fremd quarterback Will Clark got flushed from the pocket, broke two tackles and then raced 80 yards for a touchdown and suddenly the Vikings could forget all their previous issues.

Until the conversion kick.

That kick sailed wide right, and Fremd still trailed 7-6.

“I said beforehand that we were going to give them a battle,” Heyse said. “We kept shooting ourself in the foot too much with motion penalties. This is a great win for us.”

Fremd had trouble finishing scoring drives as both teams failed to score in the first half.

The Vikings took the opening kickoff and moved to the Hoffman Estates 18. They then had a touchdown called back on a holding call and eventually missed a field goal on that possession.

Just before the end of the half, Fremd took the ball to the Hoffman 33. When that drive stalled, the Vikings opted for a 51-yard field goal. But that kick also missed.

Hoffman Estates (4-3, 2-1) had its opportunities as well.

After a 37-yard pass from Dailey to Bond, the Hawks had the ball at the Fremd 34. The Hawks drive stalled and then Hoffman missed a scoring chance when its field-goal attempt missed.

Fremd’s defense was strong again, especially against the run as Hoffman rushed for only three yards in the game. But that was not quite enough to help stem the tide.

“We just didn’t execute across the board when we needed to,” Fremd coach Lou Sponsel said. “Our playmakers needed to show up and make plays and that didn’t happen.”