St. Charles East sharp as iron to beat Elk Grove

There’s no question that St. Charles East is a proponent of football playoff expansion.

“It was worth it,” said Saints senior running back Johnny Solano, who ran for 158 yards and touchdowns of 51, 3 and 47 yards in No. 17 seed St. Charles East’s 42-21 Class 6A opening-round victory over No. 16 Elk Grove on Friday in Elk Grove.

The Saints (4-6), who visit No. 1 Machesney Park Harlem on Oct. 31 for a first-round game, won their first playoff game since 2017 while snapping a five-game losing streak, against DuKane Conference teams.

“Our last game, we had Geneva, they’re really good,” Solano said. “I feel like that helped us be a lot better this game. It made us prepared.”

Senior center Troy Demien, among a stout offensive line, including tackles Liam Barrett and Nolan Krzystofiak and guards Saxton Pairolero and Thorston Fleps, highlighted the strength of schedule.

“I think the biggest thing is iron sharpens iron,” Demien said. “We play in one of the best conferences in the state. We’re playing against guys who are top guys in the state. I think it really shows when we get out of the conference, how much iron sharpens iron.”

St. Charles East showed it quickly, as Solaro and quarterback Cruz Herrera led the Saints to a 28-7 halftime lead. On the other side of the ball, Christian Hirniak and Conner Landrey played bruising defense.

Escaping a near interception by the Grenadiers at their own goal line, Herrera opened the scoring with his quick toss right to slot receiver Luca Munaretto, who ran the ball in from the seven-yard line.

Elk Grove (4-6) also looked good on its first possession, motoring 65 yards. Quarterback Luke Maher twice found running back Eric Sandoval for open screen passes in the right flat, setting up a 10-yard touchdown pass to Griffin Ewen, right down the middle.

Isaiah Albazi’s kick tied the game 7-7 at 5:14 of the first quarter.

St. Charles East countered the Grenadiers score with 35 unanswered points, going up 42-7 on Solano’s 47-yard run at 11:31 of the fourth quarter.

Herrera, who completed 13 of 20 passes for 102 yards, added a 25-yard touchdown pass to Hirniak before halftime, and a 12-yarder to Aiden Quidayan for a 35-7 lead at 6:08 of the third quarter.

“The theme of the last few weeks has been we’ve been really good for one half and not the other,” said St. Charles East coach Nolan Possley, earning his first playoff win.

“So to see them put the whole game together, that’s what we challenged them to do all week and to see it that was great,” he said.

Elk Grove finished strong, as Maher threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Gomez with 2:11 to play.

The Grenadiers’ John D’Andrea then recovered Ewen’s onside kick, and Maher again found Gomez in the end zone, a nine-yard touchdown strike.

“Our coach (Danny O’Donnell) said it all week, this was probably the best week of practice we ever had as a group, as a family,” said Maher, who passed for 242 yards and three touchdowns.

“This group accepted me from the beginning, through the ups, through the downs. I didn’t have the greatest season, but no matter what this group never gave up on me.”