LaVeau, Palatine don’t back down

Andrew LaVeau should be picking on someone his own size.

After all, it wouldn’t seem fair for the 155-pound Palatine senior to be subjected to such a pounding from offensive linemen who carry nearly twice as much weight.

LaVeau looks as if he should be in someone’s secondary. Not tangling with 6-foot-5, 290-pound Dan Voltz of Barrington in a matchup that appeared to be an unfair disadvantage for LaVeau.

Not so to LaVeau, who missed last week with a concussion and didn’t hit anyone all week in practice. He got his chance Friday night.

Midway through the fourth quarter, LaVeau stuffed powerful running back Chase Murdock for a loss and stormed in for a sack on consecutive plays as Palatine hit it big in a 35-14 Mid-Suburban West showdown win over Barrington.

“It was really tough being out last week … and the beginning of the game was rough,” LaVeau said. “Toward the end I figured him out.

“I love hitting and that’s what we do. We hit. We make people not want to play us.”

The Pirates clearly aren’t just talking a good game when they say they want to be physical. They meant it in an impressive hit parade.

“If we play more physical than the other team for four quarters we can outperform them,” said Palatine junior cornerback Dan Riddle, whose interception was one of 3 second-half take-aways that included a fumble on the first play after the break and Kurt Becker’s pick.

“The whole defense likes to hit,” said one of the Pirates’ hardest hitters in junior safety and third-year starter Jesse Bobbit. “That’s what we pride ourselves on.

“Big plays like (LaVeau’s) are crazy. He just plays hard and that’s what we’re all about. Our defense plays hard.”

Even when it suffers a tough loss such as “big” defensive end Nick Novelli (166 pounds) going out early with an injured left shoulder.

“Everyone stepped up and had to make up for what we lost in one of our key players,” LaVeau said of the front-line efforts of Julian Turner, Josh Baldus, C.J. Machnik, Bobby Iacullo and Nathan Gerdes.

“I love Novelli and LaVeau,” Riddle said with a smile. “They aren’t the biggest defensive linemen out there and I weigh more (185 pounds) than they do, but they’re busting those 300-pound linemen.

“They’re nuts. Insane.”

And there is a definite trickle-down effect through the rest of a defense led by coordinator Rick Splitt and assistants Brian Richter and Sergio Lund. Head coach Tyler Donnelly has said it’s a unit that’s way ahead of where it was at this stage last year when the Pirates didn’t get their fifth win until the regular-season finale.

But many of the players who were part of a quarterfinal run returned with greater confidence. It showed as Palatine got its fifth win by beating Barrington for a fifth straight time to all but wrap up a fifth consecutive playoff appearance.

And the Pirates are all alone atop the MSL West for a reason as basic as the game itself.

“It was a physical game and they’re bigger than us so we have to hit them harder,” Donnelly said. “That’s what we preach. We’re going to hit you for four quarters.

“That was an unbelievable sack (by LaVeau) and that’s what I mean. By the fourth quarter we’re getting around those guys.”

And the hits just keep on coming.

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com