South Elgin convincing in win over Evanston
It would have been hard to tell by the poise and confidence that South Elgin demonstrated on Friday night that this was a team making its first playoff appearance since 2010 and only the third in school history. Instead the Storm looked like playoff savvy veterans as they rolled to a 62-10 opening round win over Evanston in Class 8A action at Millennium Field in Streamwood.
Senior running back Shawn Griffin and senior quarterback Jacob AmRhein provided the perfect balance for the Storm. Griffin rushed for 160 yards on 20 carries, including 5 touchdowns. AmRhein completed 12 of 15 passes for 225 yards and 2 touchdowns and also ran for another score. The Storm defense forced 6 turnovers.
The 12th-seeded Storm (9-1) advance to play at 5th-seeded Brother Rice next week.
“By the time you get to Week 9 your game card can get pretty complex with a lot of different plays you have tried throughout the year,” South Elgin coach Pat Pistorio said. “But we wanted to keep it simple this week. We just went back to the basics with a handful of plays we have used consistently throughout the year. The kids did a great job of running them all effectively.”
The Storm could do little wrong right from the start as they marched 69 yards on the opening drive of the game that resulted in a 4-yard touchdown run by Griffin. On the drive the Storm ran for 33 yards and passed for 36.
“We wanted to come out strong,” AmRhein said. “The line did a great job of setting the tone and getting that score right away gave us momentum moving forward.”
Evanston answered with a field goal on its first possession, but was all South Elgin after that.
AmRhein hit Andrew Kamienski with a short pass in the right flank on the second play of the Storm's next possession. Kamienski, who had 4 receptions for 135 yards, broke a tackle and sprinted 90 yards down the sideline for a touchdown to make it 14-3.
“Having a running back like Griffin really opens the passing game up,” AmRhein said. “All we have to do is take advantage and we have the wide receivers to do it.”
Griffin followed with a 31-yard touchdown run the next time South Elgin had the ball to extend the lead to 21-3.
“We had a great week of practice and came and did what we had to do,” Griffin said. “When we get a great push from our front five like we did tonight and we are able to spread the ball around we are a powerful offense.”
A pair of interceptions by Dominique Woods and a fumble recovery from Brian Medina set up the final 3 touchdowns of the first half for South Elgin. Griffin added touchdown runs of 19 and 9 yards while AmRhein tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Derek Kumerow to make it 41-10 at the break.
In the second half AmRhein ran for a 3-yard touchdown and Griffin added a 13-yard touchdown to give the Storm a slaughter rule running clock by late in the third quarter. Larnell Brown ran back a fumble recovery 25 yards for the Storm's final score.
The South Elgin defense allowed Evanston just 165 total yards. Medina had 2 sacks, a fumble recovery, and a blocked pass.
“This defense is a special group,” Pistorio said. “They do a good job of identifying the other team's weakness and kicking it into another gear to attack it.'
Evanston (6-4) came in reeling having blown a fourth-quarter lead a week ago to be denied a conference title and then losing its top receiver to injury during the week. The Wildkits' starting quarterback, Matt Littel, then went out with an injury in the second quarter and did not return.