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Suddenly Cornelius, Palatine have the offense running

Once Chris Cornelius found some open space there was no catching him.

The speedy senior running back helped his Palatine teammates forget about an opening-week loss by scoring 4 touchdowns, including sprints of 65 and 68 yards, as the host Pirates knocked off Rolling Meadows 41-13 in a Mid-Suburban League crossover football game Friday at Chic Anderson Stadium.

Cornelius finished the game with 190 yards in 19 carries, but his first and last scoring runs were electrifying, the first on the second play from scrimmage setting the tone for the Pirates and the fourth with 5:16 left in the game putting icing on the cake.

"We had to get off real fast," Cornelius said. "Tonight the perimeter blocking was key, because we're not a big team."

"We needed to come back from last week's loss," Pirates coach Rick Splitt said. "The quick score and two stops (on defense) were awesome."

"We knew he was a phenomenal back," Rolling Meadows coach Matt Mishler said. "They were more physical than us. They beat us up."

By the time the Mustangs (1-1) got a first down, they were trailing 14-0, thanks to a 21-yard touchdown pass from Nick Orlando to Joey Roy with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.

Rolling Meadows quarterback RJ Mattucci engineered a 13-play, 83-yard drive to put the Mustangs on the board. Antonio Atencio (17 carries for 50 yards) scored on a 1-yard run with 8:00 left in the half.

Palatine took advantage of a short field and a roughing the passer penalty to answer the Meadows score in 2 plays, a 21-yard pass from Orlando to Daniel Garcia and a 13-yard scoring sweep by Cornelius with 7:47 remaining, and the Pirates (1-1) added to their lead when Cornelius scored from 14 yards out with 4:43 remaining in the half.

Mattucci led the Mustangs on another scoring drive, 77 yards in 8 plays. He completed 4 passes for 76 yards, including a 9-yarder to Atencio for the score with 1:16 left in the quarter.

On more than one occasion, Mattucci was able to turn what could have been a loss or a sack into a long gain for the Mustangs and kept the drive alive.

"He really knows how to extend a play," Mishler said.

If Meadows had any hope of turning the game around, Orlando ended that on Palatine's first play of the second half after forcing a 3 and out. He kept the ball and burst up the middle for a 48-yard touchdown that gave Palatine a 34-13 lead.

"We saw they were keying on the sweep and over-pursuing, and we knew the counter was open," Orlando said.

Palatine's defensive effort earned praise from Splitt.

"To hold that team scoreless in the second half…I'm happy," he said. "I'm proud of our guys."

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