Confident Palatine passes up Fremd
A little confidence can be dangerous. A lot of confidence can be lethal.
Palatine has a lot of confidence.
The Pirates showed it Friday night in a 24-17 victory over visiting Fremd in a crosstown showdown that lived up to the billing, and then some.
Palatine used a bruising ground game, some timely and even spectacular pass completions and a lot of defensive moxie to score what some might call an upset. To the Pirates, it will simply be called a classic.
"We knew we could stay with them," said Pirates quarterback Nick Orlando. "We came back from adversity."
Which included his 2 interceptions, one of which became a pick-6 when Fremd's Jawan Gaines scampered 44 twisting, turning yards with it in the third quarter to make a tight game at 16-14 out of an affair that Palatine had pretty much dominated.
"We made mistakes," said Palatine coach Rick Splitt, whose club moved to 5-2 and 3-0 in the Mid-Suburban wild, wild West. "But those 67 kids (on Palatine's roster), they did it all."
Including opening the second half with a dominant drive that took 4:01 and resulted in Orlando's 2-yard dive into the front left corner of the end zone for a 16-7 lead. Impressively, the Pirates outplayed Fremd's often dominant defensive front and made a statement.
"The offensive line, they played great," said Orlando, as Palatine piled up 185 yards rushing on 50 carries behind Mark Scherer, Tommy Sobotka, Quinn Gerdes, Matthew Kerlin and Carsten Andersen.
They continued to play great as Palatine scored to take the lead back on Orlando's short pass to Javone Stricker, set up by a 57-yard pass to Dillon McHugh. It all followed a Brody Martin 21-yard field goal that had given Fremd (5-2, 2-1) a 17-16 lead with :38.7 left in the third quarter.
Fremd didn't score again and only got the ball back for some three minutes in the fourth quarter. Palatine's seven-minute drive behind Chris Cornelius' 7 carries for 42 yards pretty much killed the clock and Fremd's chances.
The Vikings' last hope left as Palatine's Daniel Garcia came up with a pick with :32.2 left, part of a terrific defensive effort that limited Fremd to 94 yards rushing thanks to big efforts from James Falduto and Vincent Serio.
Fremd made no excuses, despite being outmuscled, a rarity for them, on both sides of the ball.
"We got out-coached. We got outplayed. (Palatine) was a team that wanted to win more than we did," said Fremd coach Lou Sponsel. "Rick Splitt and his staff did a great job."
"They played hard. They came out to play physical football," Splitt said of his team. "They accepted the challenge from the coaching staff."
"We had to earn it," said Orlando, "but it gave us a lot of confidence. We know we can play with anybody."