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Class 8A playoffs: Barrington knocks off Maine South

Was it an upset? Can they do it again?

Barrington's 21-7 Class 8A IHSA playoff win Saturday over Maine South took out an undefeated Hawks team on their home field in the second round.

Can Barrington do the same next week against a Glenbard West team that humbled Palatine Saturday?

"We just have to have a great week in practice," said linebacker Jake Coon, the heart and soul of a defense that surrendered just one touchdown and that on a 2-yard drive after a 78-yard pass interception return by Tommy Bazarek.

With the Hawks seemingly ready to go on a roll, Barrington needed a special play to get back in the game.

Enter Scotty Miller. And 88 yards later, including a dynamic, diagonal cross-field cut, he outran Maine South's cover team for a game-tying TD on the ensuing kickoff.

It was virtually all Barrington (10-1) from there. On both sides of the ball.

"We were able to take the momentum right back," head coach Joe Sanchez said of Miller's play.

And keep it.

The Broncos would score again three possessions later, taking the heart out of the Hawks with a 91-yard, 5-minute, 12-play drive, aided by a roughing-the-kicker penalty. Quarterback Johnny Davidson did convert on third down another time in that drive, on a pass to Matt Moran, but otherwise relied on the legs of Dumaso Mkwananzi (24 carries, 143 yards), whose 32-yard sprint set up Davidson's 1-yard sneak.

The Broncos pretty much salted things away with a 45-yard drive in three plays after Coon's one-handed stab of a pass in the flat for a pick. Again, a pass to Moran for 29 yards set up Mkwananzi's 6-yard TD run. But it was Coon, recognizing a formation from film sessions and practice, who stuck up a paw and on a one-handed grab got them the ball.

"We knew what they were going to do. I just jumped the route," said the veteran linebacker.

His play set the tone for a defense that put Hawks quarterback Brian Collis (20-for-29, 227 yards, 3 INTs) on his back for losses five times totaling 30 yards. Maine South subsequently had just 26 yards rushing. The key for Barrington?

"Pressure, pressure, pressure," said defensive end Grant Elliott, who lived in the Hawks' backfield all game. But that wasn't all.

"Don't panic," said defensive line mate Dave Danhauer, referring to the message from coaches on the bench after Maine South jumped ahead early thanks to the pick.

But that was about Davidson's only mistake, while Collis was picked two more times, by Blake Jacobs to reverse field position in the first half and by Travis Cysewski to lock things up at the end.

The picks, the limits on rushing yardage, the pressure on Collis, all came from the front four.

"We didn't blitz at all. Our 'D' line played relentless," said Coon.

"We have a great defensive line coach," said Danhauer, referring to former NFL'er and Barrington alum Brady Smith.

"We had a great week in practice," said Elliott.

They'll need another.

"I was just really proud of the kids," said Sanchez, who has a penchant for playoff wins like this, before also getting back to that week-of-practice thing.

"I was proud," he said, "of the way we prepared."

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