Elk Grove happy to be home, and is now 2-2
Elk Grove returned home to a huge crowd and scored a huge win Friday night.
After playing on the road for the first three weeks this season, the Grenadiers made things look easy, rolling over Maine East 42-0.
"We played a more complete game and that is good," Elk Grove coach Miles Osei said. "We still have some work to do, but it is nice to get a win before our home fans."
Those fans had plenty to cheer about as the Grens (2-2) built a 35-0 lead at the half. Jacob Elsner had a trio of touchdown runs from 2, 5 and 5 yards. Mitch Janczak threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Ewen off a bootleg. Janczak also had an 8-yard touchdown run.
Dominic Belmonte tallied on a 23-yard run on Elk Grove's first possession of the second half and the Grens cruised from there.
"We are a young team," Osei said. "We start four sophomores and a freshman on the line and only five seniors. We are a fairly young group that is coachable. Not a lot of varsity experience but a high football IQ."
Maine East fell to 0-4.
Highland Park 29, Wheeling 7:
Wheeling put up a battle before its home crowd. But the Wildcats (1-3), who were without six starters due to injury and quarantine, fell a bit short and lost their third straight.
"It would be interesting if we could get everyone on the field at the same time," Wheeling coach Pete Panagakis said. "We are 70 percent underclassmen. We really relied on them to step up last night. They did a great job. Highland Park should be commended for a job well done."
Highland Park (2-2) scored touchdowns in each quarter to build a 29-0 lead. Wheeling scored its touchdown on a 28-yard run by quarterback AJ Marchetti.
New Trier 37, Conant 35:
Conant's late rally came up a little short as the Cougars (1-3) lost their third in row.
Ryan Kutella's touchdown with just over two minutes to play enabled Conant to close the gap to 37-35. New Trier (3-1) tried to run out the clock. The Trevians were successful when a fourth down play netted them a first down by a matter of inches.
Gisueppe Dugo ran for 2 touchdowns for the Cougars. He also threw a pair of touchdown passes to Ricky Rodriguez and Lennon Johnson.
"Our kids were battling," Conant coach Bryan Stortz said. " We got some youth and inexperience. But our veteran players are stepping up and the guys are doing things together. The effort has been outstanding."
Deerfield 24, Schaumburg 13:
Schaumburg jumped to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter but couldn't hold on.
The Saxons (2-2) were able to run the ball very effectively, especially in the first half. Takumi Fred busted off a 75-yard scoring burst on Schaumburg's first possession to make it 7-0.
Deerfield (3-1) closed to 13-7 with just over five minutes left in the first half on a touchdown pass. The Warriors then rallied for 17 points in the fourth quarter on a pair of touchdown passes and a field goal. Austin Layette had 3 touchdown passes for Deerfield.