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Rezny's big play sparks a Rolling Meadows win

While playing on the under levels, Alex Rezny was a linebacker and quarterback for the Rolling Meadows football program.

But when the Mustangs' defensive end was injured for their final two playoffs games last fall, the 6-foot-1 Rezny was called up to the varsity.

"Alex stepped in at defensive end for those two games and looked like he had been playing there all season," said Mustangs coach Matt Mishler. "He's just flat-out a football player, period."

No one would have disagreed on Friday night.

With his team trailing 13-6, Rezny turned the momentum into the host Mustangs' favor with 7:11 left in the game.

He broke through and tackled the Schaumburg quarterback in the backfield and then stripped the football away and raced 56 yards for a touchdown that sparked his team's 18-13 triumph.

Less than four minutes later, Mustangs quarterback RJ Mattucci raced around left end for a 49-yard TD run and the hosts were on their way to a 2-1 record while Schaumburg dropped to 0-3.

"I was just supposed to hit the first person I saw, and it was the quarterback," Rezny said of his big play, one of many big tackles he made in the rainy conditions. "When I was tackling him, the ball was kind of hanging out and I just took it away and started running."

"That was a real big-time play," Mishler added. "We've really been stressing to our defense to create turnovers and attack the football, and we really did that. They played lights out."

It was special teams that lit up the Mustangs' cheering section next as senior Peyton Dezonna raced in and blocked Schaumburg's punt with 5:05 remaining.

"That's his second blocked punt," Mishler said. "He had one in our first game against St. Viator. The kid goes hard every play and is convinced he is going to get one "

The blocked punt gave the Mustangs the ball at the Saxons' 49.

Mattucci needed just one play to find the end zone.

He finished with 92 yards on 10 carries while Antonio Antencio gained 55 yards on 13 carries. They ran behind the blocking of Grant Palmer, Francisco Trejo, Jake Owen, Greg Off and Jake Maloney.

"RJ ripped off that big run and Antonio ran hard," Mishler said. "And our guys up front really controlled things, especially in the final quarter.

Schaumburg led 7-0 at half, thanks to senior quarterback Alex Kizkowski's 57-yard TD run following a fake handoff to Justice Macneal-Young (141 yards in 27 carries).

The Mustangs closed to 7-6 in the third quarter on Atencio's 5-yard TD run set up by Nick DelPorte's interception and return to the Saxons' 5-yard line.

"We just kid of hung around," Mishler said. "Finally the offense started to get some momentum. The kids were really resilient."

Schaumburg came back to grab a 13-6 lead when Kizkowski found Jarman McMillon about 5 yards in front of the line of scrimmage.

The senior wide receiver was able to race down the sideline almost untouched for a 34-yard score with 2:04 left in the third quarter.

But the Mustangs' big plays by Rezny, Dezonna and Mattucci earned the victory in the final 7:11 of the game.

"We played defense for three and half quarters," said Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling. "The problem was we didn't take care of the football.

"I thought we battled and came out ready to play. Ultimately, we didn't finish. They found a way to get things done in the fourth quarter."

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