Streamwood holds off Larkin

The Larkin football team rallied for 3 second-half touchdowns and dominated the final two quarters overall, but Streamwood had just enough left in the tank defensively to hold off the Royals for a 27-21 Upstate Eight River victory at Memorial Field on Friday.

The Sabres stopped Larkin on downs at the Streamwood 20-yard line with 5:14 to play. One possession later, they stuffed Royals' second-string quarterback David Hibbler for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-10 at the Streamwood 44 with 1:08 left. That allowed the Sabres to run out the clock.

"No matter how you get it, a win is a win. It's a great feeling," said Streamwood coach Mark Orszula, whose team improved to 1-3 overall, 1-0 in the UEC River. "We certainly have a lot to watch, a lot to fix, but a win's a win and we're happy about it."

Trailing 27-0 after a lackluster first half, the Royals got a talking to from their coaching staff at halftime of their homecoming game. They responded but came up short.

"The kids fought hard, but you cannot show up 24 minutes late and that's what we did," Larkin coach Dragan Teonic said. "We need to get our guys here sooner. They need to show up a little bit earlier. We ran out of time."

Larkin's AJ Hunter got the Royals back in the game when he intercepted a Max Draper pass on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown.

Two possessions later, Larkin took over at the Streamwood 34-yard line after a short punt and struck again in 5 plays. Junior quarterback David Hibbler, who played the second half in place of injured starter Elijah Hernandez, threw a 21-yard touchdown strike to Chevelle Clements just inside the front pylon. Hibbler's extra point drew the Royals within 27-14 with 3:01 left in the third quarter.

The Larkin defense, which had allowed 4 first-half touchdowns, forced a three-and-out and the offense picked up where it left off. The Royals drove 71 yards in 10 plays, keyed by Cameron Tomlin's 29-yard run to the Streamwood 5 that featured a fantastic spin move to elude a tackle. Tomlin scored from 3 yards out 2 plays later and Hibbler's extra point sliced Streamwood's advantage to 6 points with 8:58 left.

However, the Streamwood defense held when necessary on fourth down on the final two Larkin possessions, allowing the Sabres to snap a 4-game slide dating back to last season.

"It feels good, finally. It was long overdue," said senior wide receiver Noah Polich, who led the Sabres with 10 receptions for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns. "We should have beaten Dundee (a 41-39 loss in Week 2). But that slipped through our hands. This is really good for our team and our program as a whole."

Streamwood started out hot and looked like it was going to salt the game away before halftime. Quarterback Max Draper completed 19 of 32 pass attempts for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns and he ran for another score. Most of that success came in the first half, when he completed 16 of 22 for 242 yards and all 3 scores.

The Sabres scored on the first play of their second possession when Draper hit Polich over the middle for a 49-yard touchdown pass.

Their next touchdown took more work. The Sabres moved 75 yards in 13 plays, capped by a 15-yard Draper-to-Polich hookup on crossing pattern that Polich took to the pylon.

A 27-yard pass to Cole Segar and a 23-yard Polich reception set up Streamwood's third touchdown a possession later, a 6-yard Draper run.

Leading 20-0, Streamwood scored on its fourth straight possession when Cody Jayko hauled in a 14-yard touchdown with 8:42 to play in the second quarter.

"We came out strong. We did what we needed to do," Draper said. "We knew what we had to do against them and they really couldn't stop what we have."

Larkin (0-4, 0-1) didn't do anything differently in the second half other than play harder, according to Teonic.

"Absolutely zero adjustments," Teonic said. "It was exactly the same game plan we had in the first half, but we did not align correctly to formations and we did not key the things that we're supposed to key. They have certain tipoffs based upon their formations that we knew some plays were coming, but we did not take advantage of that at all in the first half. In the second half, for whatever reason, our men showed up and started making plays."

Streamwood outgained Larkin 335 yards to 208. With running back Tae Reetz sidelined for "a violation of team rules," according to Orszula, Nino Adkins led the Sabres with 28 yards on 15 carries.

Larkin's Hunter finished with 11 catches for 103 yards. In relief, Hibbler completed 8 of 13 attempts for 75 yards and a touchdown. Tomlin carried 18 times for 65 yards and a score.