True believers: Barrington shakes off slow start to snag first place in MSL West
Belief in Barrington understandably began to wane after an 0-4 start to the season.
There were special circumstances, however. The Broncos opened with a brutal schedule and lost two quarterbacks to injury.
And there was still plenty of time on the clock. With its third straight victory on Saturday afternoon, Barrington took over first place in the MSL West and can clinch a tie for the division title next week against Fremd.
Junior running back Lamar Osterhues said it even felt like the community and school had given up on the Broncos after a season with high expectations began with four losses.
“We have a phase on our team, 'Stay on that side,' because we have a family right here,” he said. “It was hard. Everyone has goals at the beginning of the season to be great. We trust in each other.”
Osterhues had a relatively quiet day with rushing stats, but he ran for two touchdowns as Barrington overwhelmed Conant 42-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Coach Joe Sanchez shrugged off any suggestion his team might need a community relations comeback.
“I don't really pay much attention,” he said. “Certainly, it was an atypical start for us. I've been here 31 years, we haven't played this tough a four-game stretch at the beginning of the year ever. Those were four great teams, and we're young and we had some injuries. I knew that our best football was still going to be in front of us, but we had to keep fighting for it.”
Barrington's first four opponents have a combined current record of 23-5. The Broncos also lost starting quarterback Crew Uebelhor in Week 2 and backup Tyler Logan in Week 3. Junior Archer Haley, wearing a non-traditional quarterback number (23), has led his team on this three-game win streak, outscoring three division opponents 122-21.
While pitching its second straight shutout, Barrington's defense seemed to be two steps ahead of Conant's wing-T rushing attack. The Cougars averaged just 2.8 yards on 19 rushing attempts in the first half.
Defensive end Kane Switski, a Central Michigan commit, gave credit to the scout team, which has been given an interesting nickname.
“We call them 'The Dirty Show,” Switski said. “The running back, Ean McCaffer, and all the quarterbacks. I've got to give all the props to The Dirty Show. They're awesome, phenomenal. The season didn't start the way we wanted, but we've been humbled and hungry since then.”
The only touchdown of the first quarter came on a blocked punt, with Duke Matiyow getting the block and Cru Lucier securing the recovery in the end zone.
The Broncos offense sputtered early, but hit its stride in the second quarter, first with a 25-yard touchdown run by Osterhues. The next two drives ended with a 42-yard TD pass from Haley to Vince Costa, and a 46-yard run from Anthony Ermilio.
When Conant finally put together a drive, Barrington's Owen Nichols finished it with a 75-yard interception return on a fourth-and-one play to make the score 35-0 at halftime. Osterhues' 22-yard run early in the third quarter started the running clock.
Nichols limped off the field in the third quarter but promised to return soon.
“It's our senior year, we want to get the MSL West championship,” Nichols said. “It just took a while for everyone to lock in, but I think we're there now. We have high hopes and high standards.”
There wasn't much good news from the Conant side. Positive offensive plays usually drew penalties, and the Cougars were often stuck in bad field position.
“We knew what we were running into,” Conant coach Anthony Donatucci said. “Just how we competed, that goes on us as coaches. We didn't prepare them the best. Today was a reflection on coaching, all of us.”