St. Charles E. ends Bartlett's playoff hopes

One streak was kept intact while another ended Friday night at Millennium Field.

St. Charles East forced Bartlett into two turnovers in the Saints' territory with less than 4 minutes remaining to hold on for a 7-3 Upstate Eight Conference victory.

The win was East's fifth consecutive. The loss ends the Hawks' streak of consecutive playoff appearances at nine.

"We pride ourselves on our defense," said East senior Bryce Barry, who picked off a pass near the goal line to end any hope for Bartlett. "We love flying around and making plays."

Bartlett (2-5, 1-4 UEC) last missed the playoffs in 1999 and was a Class 8A semifinalist a season ago. With any hopes of making the playoffs depending on a three-game win streak to end the season, the Hawks came out fired up. After forcing the Saints to punt on the first possession of the game, Bartlett took over at its own 15. A 47-yard pass from A.J. Bilyeu to Mike Banks on their first play got the Hawks into the Saints' territory. Eventually Bartlett got inside the 3 and had a fourth-and-goal. Hawks coach Tom Meaney decided for a 19-yard field goal from Alex Busch for a 3-0 lead.

"We were going to go for it. I thought it was inside the 2," Meaney said. "Three, that's a tough area."

The Saints (5-2, 5-0) faked a punt on a fourth-and-4 from the Hawks' 41 early in the second quarter. Tyler Nutting got the first down and more, getting to the 23. On the next play, Nolan Possley hit Jess Striedl for a 23-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead with 10:12 left in the first half.

The rest of the game was all about defense.

East, which averages more than 200 yards rushing per game, did not get another first down after its touchdown until late in the third quarter and had only two in the final six drives. The Saints had only 129 yards of total offense, 83 on the ground. Zachary Zajicek had 60 yards rushing.

"They stopped us like we haven't been stopped in the late five weeks," first-year Saints coach Mike Fields said. "It's good for us. It's a good learning experience. We know we have to get better."

The Hawks failed to get into the end zone but had two chances late in the fourth quarter. On a first-and-10 from the Saints 35, Bilyeu scrambled to his left, but ran right into Matthew Payne, who just took the ball right out of Bilyeu's hands with 3:39 remaining.

A bad snap on a punt gave the Hawks the ball on their 44 with 1:01 remaining. Bilyeu completed five passes to get Bartlett to East's 28. The Hawks tried a double pass as Bilyeu threw to Matt Kujak behind the line of scrimmage. Kujak tried to hit Zach Karys in the end zone, but Barry intercepted the ball near the goal line with less than 15 seconds remaining.

"Our defense was bending, but we weren't breaking," Barry said. "We kept believing and kept fighting."