Hoffman Estates blanks Streamwood

It can be tough to start a high school football season on the road.

Long drive. Unfamiliar locker room. Hostile fans in the stands.

None of that seemed to matter much for Hoffman Estates Friday night, as it leveraged a pair of touchdown passes from new starting quarterback Keegan Pierce en route to a 34-0 defeat of Streamwood at Millennium Field.

It was Pierce's first varsity start, but he was as cool as they come, hitting fellow senior Ryan Howson 6 times for 92 yards and both touchdown passes, each in the second half.

"We know what we have go do and we go out and execute," Pierce said. "We know what we have to get done, whether we're on the road or not, we know what our goals are and we just go out here and accomplish our goals, you know?"

"I think he learned a couple of things from Jeff, but there wasn't a doubt in my mind what he can do as a quarterback," Hawks' coach Mike Donatucci said of Pierce, who backed up Jeff Mayes a year ago when the Hawks barely missed the IHSA playoffs, finishing 4-5.

The Hawks also got 106 yards rushing from senior Chady Bitre and a pair of first-half touchdowns. Sophomore Jaylin Johnson chipped in 79 rushing yards on 11 carries, mostly in the fourth quarter.

"I believe it was just us preparing the right way," said Bitre, who also caught 2 passes for 20 yards. "Working hard all summer long, coming to practice every day and being present, day in and day out, making sure we get our things done right."

Streamwood tried hard to make the Hawks' visit as unpleasant as possible in coach Don Guindon's varsity debut, picking Pierce off twice, but the Sabres could only muster 87 total yards of offense, while fumbling the ball away three times.

No first-game jitters for Guindon, however - he played for Streamwood before graduating in 2007.

"I was ready to get going, and obviously it's not the result we wanted, but it's a long season and we've got to learn how to overcome a Week 1 loss and some adversity," said Guindon, who got 43 yards receiving on 4 catches from Brian "Nino" Adkins, and 34 first-half yards rushing from fellow senior Jelyn Hill.

"So we'll find out what kind of character we have here in the next couple of weeks."

Hoffman Estates already had first-half touchdown runs of 2 and 3 yards from Bitre before Pierce went to work in the third quarter.

The first time the Hawks got the ball, Pierce engineered a 10-play, 64-yard drive that culminated in a 19-yard pass up the middle to Howson, who lightly caught the ball in the end zone over a defender's outstretched hand. Pierce added the extra point to give Hoffman Estates a 21-0 lead.

There was more to come from Pierce after Streamwood's ensuing drive went nowhere. The senior put together a similar drive, taking 10 plays to march 91 yards, the final one a dazzling rollout left and hitting Howson the left corner of the end zone just ahead of Sabres' defender Tae Reetz. Theodore Rogers' extra point gave the Hawks an insurmountable 28-0 lead.

Streamwood's defense showed signs of good things to come, especially in the first half. Reetz's tipped a Pierce pass late in the second quarter that was intercepted by Keagan Cordone. Midway through the second half, junior Jesse Rico killed a Hawks' drive by intercepting Pierce in the end zone.

But the Sabres simply had a hard time moving the ball, especially in the second half, where the team only was able to generate 16 total yards of offense.

A lot of work to be done, for sure, but Guindon believes his team is up to the task.

"In practice, we have to fix penalties and turnovers - that's basic peewee football," Guindon said. In addition to the 3 fumbles, Streamwood was penalized 12 times for 102 yards. "Little details - all the small things."

Reetz agreed with Guindon, and added that the Sabres have to learn to keep their composure.

"It's not like we've never been down this far in a game," he said. "But today, Hoffman played a good game and we lost our composure with the refs, with our teammates, the coaches … we have to have a good week of practice and keep our composure."

Across the field, a beaming Donatucci couldn't wait to hit the bus and head back to Hoffman Estates, win in hand.

"We paid attention to details and at times it wasn't pretty, but it was a good team win," he said. "We bent but we didn't break defensively. First game, I'll take it."