Palatine finally leaves Conant happy
Palatine put an end to a string of unhappy visits to Conant's Charles O. Feutz Field on Friday.
The Pirates hadn't won there in 16 years, but they brought that streak to an end 27-10 in a Mid-Suburban West football game.
Palatine (4-2, 2-0) wasn't without its share of anxiety in the first half, as the teams battled nearly 24 minutes without a touchdown. Only a John Maevski 30-yard first-quarter field goal kept the game from being scoreless until Taylor Hall's leaping catch of a deflected 46-yard Hail Mary pass from Cody Bobbit with 8.2 seconds left in the half.
"The line did a great job of protecting him," Hall said. "It was a late-developing play. Cody has a great arm.
"(The defender) had great position. I was trying to go over the top, and he tipped the ball. I kept my eye on it and came down with it."
"It hurt," Conant coach Bill Modelski said. "They took it to us in the second half."
That momentum shift carried over into the second half, and with Jimmy Smearman getting his first carries of the night, the Pirates dominated with a running game that amassed 255 yards.
Smearman ran for 174 yards on 21 carries, 123 yards in the third quarter alone, and scored 3 touchdowns (9, 8 and 1 yard). John Serio, returning after missing five games due to an injury, rushed 13 times for 42 yards.
"They came out and made big holes," Smearman, who plays linebacker on defense, said, crediting the offensive line of Joe Landeck, Layne Kirch, Nathan Gerdes, Josh Baldus and Tyler Farris for taking charge of the line of scrimmage. "I love hitting people on defense, but having the ball in your hands is a great thing."
"Hall's touchdown changed the momentum," Farris said. "It's such a rush when you push a guy back 10 or 15 yards or get a pancake."
"I thought they picked it up in the second half," Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly said. "We relied too much on the pass in the first half, and they covered our receivers pretty well.
"I'm as pleased as I've been in a while. There is a reason we haven't won here in 16 years. They're a good team."
Palatine's defense limited Conant to just a pair of second-half first downs and ran 33 plays after halftime to 22 for Conant, which kept the defense on the field for long stretches.
"The hardest thing to do is playing defensive line," Modelski said. "When those guys wear down, things can collapse around you."
Maevski's field goal, which came as time expired in the first quarter, capped Conant's best sustained drive of the game. The Cougars drove 74 yards in 15 plays and took 8:11 off the clock.
Cordell Clark carried 8 times for 26 yards in that drive and finished with 39 yards on 16 carries. Cullen completed 10 of 20 passes for 108 yards with an interception.
Bobbit was 8-of-15 passing for 100 yards, and he gained 36 yards in 7 carries on the ground. His favorite target was Hall, who caught 4 passes for 71 yards.