Big 2nd half helps Storm by Maroons

As the South Elgin Storm and the Elgin Maroons took to the gridiron, the two teams were looking for more than just picking up their first win of the season.

The rivals were looking for bragging rights after splitting their first two games, and the Storm took the upper hand as a strong second half running game and clock management led to a 42-28 win in Upstate Eight Conference football action Friday night at Memorial Field.

The two teams entered the halftime break in a 21-21 tie, but the Storm (1-3, 1-1) jumped on the lead late in the third quarter with an 8-yard touchdown run from Kelvin Ware. South Elgin took a two-possession lead early in the fourth as Josh Smith caught a 25-yard TD pass from Patrick Rae.

While the Maroons (0-4, 0-1) scored 2 minutes later on a 52-yard TD pass from Tom Roth to Jamal Cook, the Storm took nearly 7 minutes off the clock on the next drive before Trevor Hansley found the end zone on a 5-yard run.

"We got the ball moving in the second half on the ground and it worked out for us," Hansley said.

Hansley scored the Storm's first 2 touchdowns of the game on runs of 1 and 6 yards. He racked 77 rushing yards in the game.

"Trevor Hansley ran like a mad man today," said South Elgin coach Dale Schabert. "Pat also did a good job eating up the clock down the stretch."

The Storm had control of a 14-0 lead after 12 minutes of play thanks to 2 turnovers that they converted on, including an interception from Daniel Perez that took away an Elgin TD.

But the Maroons battled back with a 1-yard run from Roth, and an 80-yard fumble recovery run to the end zone from Cook and a 14-yard TD pass from Roth to Timothy Newcombe knotted the score up.

"I think offensively we ran the ball much better tonight, but I think defensively we gave up too many hidden yards," said Elgin coach Dave Bierman. "The kids played hard but our coverage has to be better."

Smith scored the Storm's third TD in the second quarter on a 24-yard pass from Rae.