Lake Park falls to South Elgin
Adolfo Pacheco played behind an all-state running back last year at South Elgin.
The Storm’s ground game sure seems to still be in good hands.
Pacheco churned out 154 yards on 18 carries with 4 touchdowns, and the Storm thumped Lake Park 42-7 on Friday in Roselle for its first win.
“He’s a violent runner,” South Elgin coach Dale Schabert said. “It’s his turn this year to run the ball, and he’s done a nice job.”
Pacheco, who lined up at slot receiver last year, had a combined 69 yards rushing and receiving on the game’s opening drive. He capped that off by breaking a pair of tackles for a 5-yard touchdown run and was just getting started.
A 35-yard Pacheco reception on a swing pass from Zachary Gross set up a 7-yard Pacheco touchdown run, and he later ran for touchdowns of 5 and 7 yards.
“That’s what we wanted to do, is come out and have a great game,” Pacheco said. “The line was doing great early and we kept it going.”
South Elgin (1-2, 1-0 Upstate Eight Valley) had just three days to prepare for its conference opener, with lightning postponing its Week 2 game with Metamora to Labor Day. A short week of practice wasn’t evident.
The Storm scored on three of its first four drives and led 28-7 by halftime. Gross completed 8 of 14 passes for 142 yards and also ran for 104 on 10 carries with a 25-yard touchdown run.
“I’m real proud of the kids,” Schabert said. “It was a very short week, and Wednesday’s practice we got a little worried. It wasn’t a good practice and we challenged them. That was a very exciting first quarter, and it set the tone.”
South Elgin’s domination in the trenches carried over to the defensive side, too.
After allowing a combined 615 yards rushing in losses to Downers Grove South and Metamora, the Storm held Lake Park’s LaCurt Evans to 14 yards on 13 carries and forced two Evans fumbles. This a week after Evans rolled up 136 yards and 4 touchdowns against Glenbard East.
“I didn’t sleep too well Tuesday night thinking about game-planning against that kid,” Schabert said. “Whoever they play next week, that kid will bounce back. He’s a great back.”
“We had to shut it down,” said Pacheco, a linebacker on defense. “Our backs were against the wall.”
Zack Gehant completed 7 of 14 passes for 176 yards for Lake Park (1-2, 0-1), his 46-yard strike to Tyler Smith in the second quarter accounting for the Lancers’ only score. Smith had 3 catches for 93 yards and ran for 33 more.
“We got behind the eight-ball early, and that’s when things get out of hand,” Lake Park coach Chris Roll said. “Last week we played like they did tonight, with that sense of urgency. I give (South Elgin) a ton of credit. I know their legs weren’t there, their bodies were bruised up, but they beat us up tonight.”