Energized Streamwood takes it to Larkin
The Larkin and Streamwood football teams were back it at bright and early Saturday morning, but it was evident right from the restart of Friday's weather-delayed Upstate Eight River game which team was more energized.
Larkin opened the 10 a.m. continuation trailing by a touchdown with 9:58 left in the second quarter, facing second-and-goal at the Streamwood 9-yard line.
A failed double-pass on the first play, replete with an intentional grounding penalty, backed the Royals up to the 29. They eventually turned the ball over on downs.
Streamwood (2-2, 1-1) went on to score a pair of touchdowns and the defense - led by ubiquitous senior middle linebacker Jake Painter and coordinated by coach Tony Baratti - limited the Royals to 183 total yards in a 21-0 victory at Millennium Field.
The shutout is the first by the Sabres since they blanked Larkin 27-0 on Sept. 21, 2012.
"We were pretty happy with the way the kids responded all week with what we were doing," first-year Streamwood coach Don Guindon said of the defensive game plan, "and they came out here and it was pretty good. There were some things we'd obviously like to improve upon, but when you pitch a shutout you have to be happy."
Happy was not an apt description of Larkin coach Dragan Teonic's postgame mood. He minced no words as to the cause.
"We never showed up," Teonic said. "The smartest thing (Streamwood) did was schedule the game for 10 a.m. Our guys were zombies. It was really disheartening to watch how we never put forth an effort. It was a tale of two teams.
"Of all the stuff that's happened at Larkin, today is the most heartbreaking loss I've been a part of, not because of Streamwood but because of us. We just never showed any fight. They just wanted it more. Hats off to them because they just took it from us and we never, ever responded in any way, on offense or defense. We just allowed them to do it and that was the story of the game."
The Sabres opened a 2-touchdown lead in the second quarter by marching 76 yards in 11 plays. Junior running back Malcolm Davis-Wilder carried 8 times on the drive for 52 of his game-high 127 yards. His 1-yard touchdown with 5:57 left in the half made it 14-0. He left the game in the fourth quarter after a hard tackle.
Larkin (0-4, 0-2) gained another red zone opportunity late in the first half when a 29-yard pass from David Hibbler to AJ Hunter set up the Royals at the 18. They advanced to the 3-yard line, but with five seconds left in the half Painter shed a blocker and sacked Hibbler at the horn.
"Our big thing is just making those stops," said Painter, whose team-high 14 tackles included 3 sacks and a tackle for loss. "Our defense is designed to make those kinds of plays. I read my keys and we made a play."
After the Royals failed to convert on fourth-and-8 from their own 24 late in the third quarter, Streamwood used 6 plays to make it 21-0. Quarterback Brendon Marton scored on a 5-yard draw with 23 seconds left in the period.
Marton also played a part in the Sabres' first-quarter touchdown on Friday, when he spotted Nino Adkins on a slant pattern for an 11-yard score.
Streamwood needs to win 3 of its final 5 games to qualify for playoff consideration and 4 of its last 5 to guarantee a berth.
"It feels good having a couple of wins under our belt going into some tough teams," Marton said. " We have St. Charles East next week. We definitely want to compete with them."