Ojuri fuels Broncos past Schaumburg
Thirty six seconds.
A year after Barrington outgunned Schaumburg 49-46 in the highest scoring game in Mid-Suburban League history, that's how long it took these two high-octane, West division rivals to each find the end zone on Friday night.
Schaumburg junior Diante Hackler took the opening kickoff from Ryan Murach (39- and 27-yard field goals) and raced 93 yards for a touchdown.
But in a sign of things to come, Barrington's Sam Ojuri took the ball 78 yards for a score on the Broncos' first play from scrimmage.
"They had the momentum, and I felt I had to bring my team back," Ojuri said. "It was great blocks. I just did my job and got in the end zone."
Ojuri did plenty of that. The 6-foot-2, 192-pound senior rushed for 4 touchdowns and 224 yards and he caught 4 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown as the Broncos (6-1, 2-1) defeated Schaumburg 49-29 in a wild contest before a near overflow crowd at Barrington Community Stadium.
Not only was it Barrington's seventh consecutive win over the Saxons (4-3, 1-2), it pushed the Broncos past last season's win total (5) when they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
"Sam is obviously special - he's starting to hit his stride," said Barrington coach Joe Sanchez, whose team visits Fremd (5-2, 2-1) next Friday. "What makes Sam even more special is that you just can't key on him in our offense."
Barrington senior quarterback Cody Seeger completed 9-of-16 for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns - the first one was a backbreaker for the Saxons.
With 10 seconds left before halftime, Seeger lofted a pass toward senior Daniel Evers, who caught the ball at the 4 and fought his way into the right corner of the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown and a 20-10 lead for the Broncos.
"That obviously turned the momentum of the game - there's a big difference from going into halftime up 13-10 versus 20-10, especially for them," Sanchez said. "That definitely turned it around."
Ojuri added a 5-yard rushing touchdown on Barrington's first possession of the second half.
"I don't think we played with any level of resolve in the second half," said Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling.
Schaumburg quarterback Anthony Iannotti completed 27-of-41 passes for 354 yards and touchdowns of 24, 4, and 47 yards to senior Josh Spandiary, who caught 9 passes for 133 yards.