Streamwood denies Elgin with defense

The Streamwood offense could do very little on Friday night against Elgin at Memorial Field. However, the Sabres' defense did more than enough with 8 sacks and 4 forced turnovers to give Streamwood a 28-18 Upstate Eight River win.

The defense was led by an unexpected source in Tae Reetz, the team's starting tailback, who also had to fill in at linebacker because of injuries. All Reetz did was record 4 sacks and force a fumble that led to a Sabres touchdown.

"It's the first time I have ever played linebacker," Reetz said. "I usually play some free safety. Coach told me to just have fun with it and go after the ball. So, that's what I did. Everybody on defense played great. That's what won for us tonight."

The Sabres (2-4, 2-2) drove 70 yards on their opening drive of the game to score on a 5-yard run by Reetz. However, Streamwood managed just 68 yards of total offense the rest of the game.

The special teams and defense did the rest.

On the ensuing kickoff after the Reetz touchdown the Sabres' Samuel Mascote recovered a muffed return by the Maroons at the Elgin 37-yard line. Nine plays later quarterback Max Draper scored on a keeper as the Sabres went up 14-0.

On the Maroons' next possession the Sabres' Jesse Rico intercepted a pass at midfield and returned it down to the Maroons' 27. A 15-yard personal foul by Elgin at the end of the play gave Streamwood the ball at the 12. That set up a second Draper quarterback keeper into the end zone from 2 yards out to give the Sabres a 21-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Reetz and the Sabres' defense came up big again in the third quarter when Reetz stripped Elgin quarterback Dontrell Gaddy of the ball at the Maroons' 7-yard line. Jonah Lexline scooped up the fumble and ran it into the end zone to give Streamwood a 28-6 lead at the time.

Jelyn Hill and Garrett Brown added interceptions in the fourth quarter for the Sabres.

"The defense played great today," Streamwood coach Mark Orszula said. "We continue to improve each week defensively. Tonight we were able to get some pressure. Tae stepped in and made some big plays for us. That was a big lift."

Elgin (0-6, 0-4), which lost for the 18th straight time, had plenty of chances, but self-destructed too many times. The Maroons had a 307-138 advantage in total yards, but also had 14 penalties for 130 yards to go with their 5 turnovers.

The Maroons did get on the board in the first half with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Gaddy to Jordan Smith to pull to within 21-6 at the break. However, the Maroons drove inside the 20 on another occasion in the second quarter only to have penalties push them back.

Again in the third quarter the Maroons drove deep into Sabres' territory, this time down to the 4 only to have the drive stall because of a sack and a penalty.

Gaddy (18-of-34 for 211 yards) added a pair of touchdown passes to Elijah Bonds and Austin Waarich in the second half, but also threw a pair of interceptions in the end zone in the fourth quarter.

"The story of the game was the five turnovers and the penalties," Elgin coach Kyle Rohde said.

"You lose by 2 scores and have that many mistakes that says it all."