Big plays propel South Elgin over Bartlett
South Elgin beat visiting rival Bartlett 27-19 on Saturday via the big play, thanks partly to a defensive tendency the Storm noticed on game films.
South Elgin senior receiver Andrew Kamienski twice got behind an all-Upstate Eight Valley cornerback, and senior quarterback Jake AmRhein put the ball in his hands for touchdowns of 52 and 44 yards.
"We saw several games where their corner, and he's a solid corner, gets overaggressive on that 15-yard out on the flood," South Elgin coach Pat Pistorio said. "So we decided to take a shot."
The route Kamienski ran is usually a decoy designed to clear the cornerback from an area, the coach said. South Elgin normally doesn't throw to that receiver unless the quarterback is specifically told to do so, which Pistorio did.
"That corner was playing about 10-12 yards off, and I knew once I got behind him he was going to bite up to the out," said Kamienski, who made 5 catches for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns. "Then I just kept running deep and, hopefully, Jake saw me. And he did."
Bartlett (1-3, 1-1 Upstate Eight Valley) grabbed a 7-0 lead on its first possession by driving 63 yards in 11 plays. A 12-yard, fake-punt pass from Ben Johnson to Cameron Mays kept the drive alive at midfield, and senior running back Nolan Bernat later capitalized with a 10-yard reception from quarterback Brenner Wallace.
South Elgin (3-1, 1-0) responded on its ensuing possession with the first of AmRhein's long touchdown passes to Kamienski. The 52-yarder down the right sideline and Nicolas Farfan's extra point evened the score at 7-7 with 1:11 left in the first quarter.
After safety Derek Kumerow's second interception of the season set up the Storm at the Bartlett 15, the Hawks held defensively, prompting a 24-yard Farfan field goal.
AmRhein and Kamienski again connected one possession later, this time for 44 yards, giving South Elgin a 17-7 lead with 4:16 left in the second quarter.
"That's a developing play," said AmRhein, who completed 15 of 23 attempts for 227 yards, threw for 2 scores and ran for another. "I just have to read where (Kamienski) goes and make a decision off that. There's two options, whichever one he chooses."
"They made some big plays," Johnson said. "They beat us deep a couple of times and that's what killed us."
The Hawks caught a break in the third quarter when South Elgin's punter was forced to a knee to halt a bounced snap at his own 13-yard line. Bartlett made the Storm pay for that mistake when Johnson scored the first of his 2 touchdowns on a 12-yard reception. A bobbled snap on the extra point left the Hawks within 17-13.
South Elgin answered with a 7-play, 70-yard drive, keyed by a pair of Jaurice Thomas receptions for 34 yards and a 22-yard burst up the middle by senior running back Shawn Griffin that set up first-and-goal at the 3. AmRhein scored on the next play on a keeper, and the extra point staked the Storm to a 24-13 lead with 2:21 left in the third quarter.
Bartlett responded in kind with a 72-yard, 9-play drive that culminated in Johnson's 11-yard touchdown run, but the 2-point conversion pass didn't connect.
A Farfan 22-year field goal gave the Storm a 27-19 lead with 8:32 to play, and the Hawks were forced to punt on their next possession.
Bartlett got the ball back 2 plays later when Bernat intercepted AmRhein's deep pass and returned it to his own 35 with 5:02 remaining. However, the Hawks went three and out and Johnson was forced to punt for the sixth time.
South Elgin took possession with 4:19 to play and never gave the ball back. Behind 6 rushes from Griffin, who finished with 23 carries for 148 yards, the Storm picked up 3 first downs and ran out the clock.
South Elgin threw for 227 yards, rushed for 138 and its defense limited Bartlett to 223 total yards.
"I thought our run defense did a great job most of the game and the offense kept them off-balance running and passing, so we're pleased," Bartlett coach Tom Meaney said. "Just a couple of times we shot ourselves in the foot there again."
South Elgin's victory was its third straight over the rival Hawks and evened the series at 4-4.
"It's a great feeling," said Kamienski, a Bartlett resident. "I that know for the rest of my life I beat my rival school my senior year. Half those guys are my buddies so when we go out there will always be something to talk about."