Palatine 35, Barrington 7
Palatine began its quest for the playoffs in style. The Pirates bounced back Friday from a tough loss at Fremd and put themselves squarely in the chase for a spot in the IHSA football playoffs for the first time in 10 years.
The Pirates (4-3, 2-1) amassed 474 yards total offense (318 on the ground) in a 35-7 Mid-Suburban West homecoming victory over Barrington (3-4, 0-3) at Chic Anderson Stadium.
Palatine's huge offensive line led the way for junior Christopher Norman's breakout game (141 yards and 2 touchdowns in 14 carries) and protected quarterback Matt Rossi (10-of-12 for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns).
The Pirates had 4 scoring drives of 75 yards or more.
In addition to Norman's total, Dan Sutton gained 83 yards in 15 carries, and Tom Eanes carried 13 times for 68 yards.
Linemen Conor Hanley (225 pounds), Andrew Peterson (255), Casey McCabe (265), Taylor Aiello (282) and Kevin Mitchell (283) consistently created running room. They gave Rossi time to find Mookie Williams for touchdowns of 50 and 26 yards in the second quarter and Eanes for a 3-yard TD on the opening drive.
"Matt really rebounded from last week," said Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly. "I'm very happy. Every game we've been in, we've improved."
"The coaches said this would be like a playoff game, and it was," Rossi said. "We blocked great the whole game. It made my job easier."
The Pirates drove 80 yards in 13 plays for their first touchdown. The touchdown was the only pass play in the drive.
After holding Barrington to a three-and-out, Palatine drove 98 yards in 9 plays to go up 14-0 with 11:15 left in the half. Rossi connected Williams along the right sideline, and he outraced the defenders for a 50-yard TD.
An interception by Brett Chidester late in the second quarter set up Palatine's third score, a 26-yard Rossi-to-Williams pass and run.
Norman scored his first touchdown to cap a 9-play, 93-yard drive on Palatine's first possession of the second half to make it 28-0.
His second touchdown, a 31-yard draw play with 10:49 left, was at the end of a 12-play, 75-yard drive.
"I'm just dumbfounded," Norman said. "The line had a really good game. The key block on the last touchdown was by Kyle Chidester. He blocked the corner, and I went to the outside."
Barrington scored with 5:33 left in the game when backup quarterback Mikeal Guido found J.C. Stickney from 8 yards, but the Broncos could generate only 125 yards in offense.
"I'm really proud of how they fought," said Barrington coach Joe Sanchez. "It would have been real easy to give in. I still think we can turn it around."