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Valiant effort comes up short for Schaumburg

NORMAL - Not much was happening for the Schaumburg football team in its first three possessions Friday night in a Class 7A playoff game.

The Saxons were down 13-0 in the first quarter on the road at Normal Community, the highest seed south of I-80 in the 7A playoffs.

But not unlike their season as a whole and how they managed to qualify for the playoffs, the Saxons rallied late to take the fourth-quarter lead twice before ultimately succumbing to the high-scoring Ironmen 34-28.

"I thought this game mirrored the last three weeks of our season," said Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling. "We got our tails kicked by Conant (in Week 7), and the rest of our year could have gone either way after that. But our kids started working their tails off and we got better. Tonight was a reflection of that."

The Saxons, who were 1-8 last year, end their season at 5-5. Normal Community (9-1) advances to face Maine South next weekend.

Schaumburg responded from the early hole behind 3 fumble recoveries to take a 22-19 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter. Junior wide receiver Terry Gray got behind the Normal defense twice to fire up the Saxons' sideline. He made a juggling catch of a 37-yard pass from junior quarterback Justin Perez to cut the lead to 19-14.

"I thought we were a little tentative in the first quarter and were waiting for things to happen instead of making things happen," Stilling said. "We talked about being more intentional and setting our minds to what we wanted to do in the second quarter and beyond."

Gray and Perez burned the Ironmen with the same play two possessions later for 52 yards that got the Saxons' to the 1-yard line. Sophomore running back Jordan Salgado punched in the touchdown for Schaumburg's first lead at 22-19.

"The coaches recognized a hole in the defense," Perez said. "Terry ran a great route and made a great catch. That got everyone excited."

Perez completed 14 of 26 passes for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns.

"We played as a team and played for these seniors because they have never been able to experience the playoffs," Perez said. "This was for them."

Normal answered immediately when sophomore running back Varshaun Dixon came off the bench to spell injured starter Alec Bozarth. Dixon's first touch was a 42-yard scamper that set up his own 1-yard touchdown that gave the lead back to the Ironmen, 26-22.

Senior defensive lineman Kody Scott recovered a fumble with 7:04 left that led to another scoring drive for the Saxons as Perez hit Bernard Payne from 10 yards out to take a 28-26 advantage.

Dixon, who finished with 78 yards - all in the second half - got loose for a 26-yard touchdown run that gave the Ironmen a 34-28 with 3:36 left.

"These seniors showed how tough they are," Stilling said. "We feel good about the direction we're headed."

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