St. Charles East keeps playoff hopes alive

Needing to win the last 3 regular-season games to keep its playoff hopes alive, St. Charles East's football team was stunned when Larkin marched 80 yards on the game's opening drive to grab an early 6-0 lead Friday night.

Sophomore quarterback David Hibbler capped the 12-play march with a 35-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver DeShawn Steward, as the Royals temporarily silenced the Saints' Senior Night crowd at Norris Stadium.

However, the Saints (3-4, 3-2) countered with a pair of touchdowns on their next 2 possessions as part of a 42-point unanswered scoring binge that eventually led to their much-needed 42-13 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory over the Royals (0-6, 0-4).

First, senior tailback Ramon Lopez (10 carries, 148 yards) scored the first of his 3 touchdowns on a 6-yard run and Nick Candre booted the extra point as the Saints took a 7-6 lead with 5:51 left in the first quarter.

After the Saints' defense forced a 3-and-out series, senior Mo Flanigan helped set up their second score when he fielded a punt at midfield and raced 36 yards to the Royals' 14.

Making his first varsity start, sophomore quarterback Zach Mitchell tossed a 14-yard TD pass to Candre on the next play as the Saints upped their lead to 14-6.

"It was like they came off their Senior Night introductions and kind of hit a little bit of a lull and a wall," Saints coach Bryce Farquhar said of his team's slow start. "They woke up a little bit after that. Larkin found some soft spots on our defense and I give them credit."

Early in the second quarter, a 20-yard Larkin punt presented the Saints with excellent field position at the Royals' 41.

Two plays later, Lopez burst around the right end untouched during his 39-yard TD run that extended the Saints' lead to 21-6.

"Ramon did some nice things for us that broke the game open," said Farquhar.

Lopez was just trying to make amends for his first-quarter fumble inside Larkin territory.

"We turned the ball over - me, myself - I fumbled," said Lopez. "Every year, Senior Night starts off kind of slow. Once we got over our first couple drives, we started rolling."

The first of 2 interceptions by junior linebacker Mitch Guillaume helped set up Kevin Cuautle's 5-yard TD run that gave the Saints a 28-6 halftime advantage.

"Our turnovers hurt us a lot," Larkin coach Dragan Teonic said of his team's 4 miscues. "That led to quite a few of their points in the first half. It's not something we've done all year."

Lopez added his third touchdown of the game - a 34-yard run - on the Saints' opening possession of the second half, and Kyle Cook's 23-yard interception return for a TD a few minutes later made it 42-6.

"We came out and we were able get some turnovers," Farquhar said of his team's 4 interceptions. "We haven't had a lot of those this season. Defensive scores really turn the game in the other direction, too."

Hibbler (13 of 36, 157 yards) fired a 17-yard TD pass to A.J. Hunter (8 catches, 102 yards) with 3:58 remaining to close out the scoring.

"We stayed the course on offense," said Teonic, whose team also received a 120-yard rushing night from junior tailback Cameron Tomlin. "I think they just wore us down."

Both teams will start preparing for next weekend's rivalry contests, as Larkin faces Elgin while St. Charles East visits St. Charles North.

"It'll be my first time experiencing that," said Teonic. "I guess it's enormous."

"It's a great rivalry," said the Saints' coach. "They've got a great team on the other side of town. We're really looking forward to it."