St. Charles East beats Elgin for 1st win
St. Charles East limped into its Upstate Eight River opener against Elgin Friday night with a winless record and various players banged up and questionable.
But that was where the uncertainty started and ended with the Saints as they rolled to a 38-7 victory over the Maroons to add some spice to their homecoming weekend.
Senior running back Cam Canales scored two touchdowns and ran for 108 yards in 15 carries for the Saints in playing only the first half while nursing some still-sore ribs.
His 50-yard jaunt early in the second quarter, after an Anthony Rubino interception, set up his 1-yard plunge moments later for a 14-0 lead.
But the play gave the Saints some needed momentum and field position after both teams sputtered on offense, even though quarterback Aiden Wright did connect with Dante Macaluso for a 24-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.
"I think it rallied the offense, because things started a little slow," Canales said of his big carry. "When you have a long run, everyone just gets real happy and gets excited.
"We need to get more of those, start making the reads that would allow us to get more of those," Canales added.
St. Charles East (1-2, 1-0) followed Canales' lead in churning out 222 yards rushing, which came in handy because other than the 24-yard touchdown play, the Saints gained only 3 other yards in the air.
Still, combined with a strong defensive effort that thwarted Elgin (0-3, 0-1) on fourth downs twice and registered two turnovers, the Saints had the right formula to keep things in control.
"This gives us some momentum going into Batavia next week, and the kids played really well," St. Charles East coach Bryce Farquhar said.
"We were banged up, but are starting to get some kids back. The defense put the offense back on the field, and the offense kept the defense off the field."
Canales added a two-yard scoring plunge late in the second quarter and Nicholas Candre added a 25-yard field goal for a 24-7 halftime lead.
The ball simply was not bouncing Elgin's way, as the field goal was made possible when the Saints recovered a bouncing ball near midfield after Rubino was rocked on a punt return and fumbled.
To add insult to injury, Elgin drove all the way to the Saints' 3-yard line in the waning seconds of the half, only to be stopped by the Saints defensive front as time expired.
Elgin tallied its only score of the night when Joseph Span pulled in a 27-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Terrance Miller Allen (8 of 28 for 167 yards). The score was set up by Shareick Morris' 46-yard reception.
When Sam Grohe returned the ensuing kickoff into Elgin territory, the Saints were back in business. Justin Galante capped a 43-drive with a 5-yard sweep around left end into the end zone for a 31-7 lead.
Abe Swanson closed the scoring with an 11-yard run through the heart of Elgin's defense early in the fourth quarter.
The game's stats were far closer than the final score, as the Saints gained 249 total yards to Elgin's 247, with 177 of those coming via the pass. St. Charles East had 15 first downs to the Maroons' 12.
Elgin coach Anthony Mason said his team isn't in a position to worry about statistics or whether a game plan succeeded or failed.
"We need to start focusing on the things outside of football that will make them better men, and that will spill over onto football," Mason said.
"We have gotten away from what the foundation has to be, and we have some weak points that we have to make stronger," Mason added.
The Maroons need to master the basics of the game in order to become more consistent, Mason said. "I want my players to be great outside of football as well," he added. "If nothing else, I want them to leave with that."