Schaumburg spoils Conant's quick start
Everything started out well for Conant at Schaumburg's Gary Scholz Stadium on Friday night in the Mid-Suburban West.
The Cougars received a 32-yard kickoff return by London Dokubo plus a 15-yard personal foul penalty on the Saxons to place the ball on Schaumburg's 42.
Conant drove to the 2-yard line before losing three 3 yards. A 22-yard field goal was missed, and that little opening seemed to be all the Saxons needed.
Senior defensive tackle Joe Zolper led the Saxons with 5½ sacks totaling 38 yards in losses, and Shepard Little had 4 rushing touchdowns as Schaumburg clipped the Cougars 42-21 before a festive homecoming crowd.
"This seems to be the norm for us" said Conant coach Bill Modelski. "We seem to get a good possesion early but we don't put it in. Not scoring was big, and it hurt us."
The Saxons (5-2, 2-1) then took command with Little (13 carries, 101 yds.) finishing up a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 5-yard run with 3:07 left in the first quarter.
Little, the area's leading scorer and rusher, took off for a 58-yard score with :28 left in the first quarter and a 14-0 Schaumburg lead.
Little tallied from the Cougars' 10-yard line completing a 9-play, 68-yard drive and a 21-0 lead with 7:31 left in the half.
"As long as we can move the ball team," said Little, "we can show people were not a one-man offense."
A 75 yard kickoff return by Schaumburg's Eric Carlson set up Mark Iannotti's 7-yard TD pass to Bob Quilico and a 28-0 lead.
Conant (2-5, 0-3) scored on a 48-yard pass from Matt Cullens (11-for-14, 159 yards, 2 TDs) to Mark Zielinski on the next possession to cut the lead to 28-7.
Little scored his fourth touchdown on a 3-yard run just before the end of the third quarter and a 35-7 lead.
On the defensive end, Zolper and the Saxons were having their way.
"The rest of the defense helped contain them," said Zolper. "When we stopped them (Conant) from scoring we got the momenteum. That just really jacked us up to play better defense."
"Zolper is a special guy and he's got all the goods." said Modelski. " I enjoy watching him play."
"For our leauge, Zolper's a small lineman," said Saxons coach Mark Stilling. "He's got good mobility and speed. He's a football player and he's tough. He has a impact on our defense."
While Cordell Clark (14-yard run) and Jake Valas (25-yard TD catch) scored late for Conant, the Saxons mostly kept the Cougars at bay.
Conant finished with 81 yards rushing. The Saxons pounded out 316 yards on the ground of their 397 total. Iannotti scored the final Schaumburg touchdown on an 18-yard run.
"Our goal right now,"said Stilling, "is to get better each week and win the West."