It's just another day at the office for businesslike Bartlett
The Bartlett football players were still in shoulder pads and jerseys during a low-key victory celebration Friday night.
They may as well have been wearing shirts and ties because the Hawks' approach to celebrating their 21-7 victory over Fremd in a second-round Class 8A playoff game at Millennium Field was as businesslike as the manner in which they won their 11th contest of the season.
Though it was a milestone victory for Bartlett (11-0), which hadn't advanced to a state quarterfinal in eight previous postseason appearances, the reaction of the players afterward was more akin to what one would see after a victory in, say, Week 5 of the regular season.
After shaking hands respectfully with the Vikings, the Bartlett players didn't do a crazy dogpile at the 50-yard line. Nor did anyone drop to his knees and thank the heavens for his good fortune.
There were a few high-fives and a congratulatory hugs between teammates here and there, but as celebrations go, this one was tamer than a house cat.
There's a reason for that.
"We've got work to do still," senior defensive lineman Kyle Kirchoff explained later as he walked to the bus. "It's only been two games. We want to get to state."
Then his buddy and fellow defensive lineman Joey Quartullo jumped in and said, "We're in it to win it. Our goal is to win state and we're not going to stop 'til we get it."
Thus, the approach remains even-keeled for this talented assemblage of Hawks, who can quantitatively say at this juncture that they are the best team in the school's 11-year football history.
Such success comes as no surprise to them. Nor is it enough to satisfy them. This team expects to win the way Donald Trump expects to make money.
"Coming into the season we might have been underrated, but we didn't care," said quarterback Josh Hasenberg, who threw for 1 touchdown to tight end Greg Partyka and ran for 2 more. "We didn't let that bother us. We knew we had a great team and if we just worked together, we could do anything.
"We know if we play well as a team, there's no line to be drawn. We can accomplish anything we set our hearts on doing."
What the Bartlett offense did Friday was take what the Fremd defense gave it. When the Vikings loaded the box, Hasenberg (9-of-13, 162 yards) threw quick outs to receivers Cory Brown and Alex VanNess. When Fremd backed off to respect the pass, the Hawks advanced methodically in small chunks behind running back Fabian Libreri (18 carries, 65 yards).
Meanwhile, the defense forced Fremd to turn the ball over on downs on drives to the Bartlett 13-, 33- and 35-yard lines, respectively.
The Hawks advanced to the quarterfinals against the winner of today's 5 p.m. game between No. 5 Warren (9-1) and No. 13 Schaumburg (6-4), thanks to a balanced effort from its defense, its offense and its special teams, which is how they've conducted business all season.
One moment of postgame fun came from the same source as it has all season: assistant coach Dick Stephens. Before the Hawks break for the locker room every week, Stephens, the first head coach in Bartlett history, sends them off with a breakdown. Three times he'll yell, "Who we gonna beat?" And three times the Hawks respond with the name of next week's opponent.
Because the Hawks won't know who they play until later today they had to improvise.
"Who we gonna beat?" Stephens asked three times.
"Whoever," the players yelled three times in kind.
No matter who the Hawks play next, it'll be just another day at the office.
jfitzpatrick@dailyherald.com