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Hoffman Estates tops Schaumburg, ends playoff drought

It would be a mistake to sell Hoffman Estates' football team short.

"Do not underestimate us," in the playoffs, that is, said Hawks quarterback Austin Coalson, after his 2-touchdown, 209-yard evening on Friday helped the Hawks clinch their first playoff spot in 20 years in a 35-7 win over visiting Schaumburg. "We're a good team. We'll go in 7-2 or 6-3 and can beat some people."

They beat some pretty good people on Friday night - that is, a Schaumburg team that came in 4-3, 1-2 in the MSL West, needing a win to pretty much clinch a playoff spot. Now the Saxons will have to beat undefeated Palatine next week to get in the postseason.

But for Hoffman Estates, Friday night's playoff-clinching win was 20 years in the making. The last four came under head coach Mike Donatucci, who held back tears talking about what it meant to him, the players and his staff.

"A lot good people," he began, pausing, stalling for time to gather himself before continuing. "A lot of good people worked very hard these last four years to get this done.

"Our staff just adopted these kids."

Hoffman Estates(6-2, 2-2) has Donatucci's longtime prior stop Fremd left on the regular-season schedule next week, the Vikings having pretty much clinched a playoff spot last night as well.

Junior quarterback Coalson (9-16-209 passing, no interceptions): "This is absolutelty great. We've worked so hard. Coach Donatucci gives us so much confidence."

But it was Schaumburg that came out punching, controlling the ball and the clock in the first half, but not capitalizing on multiple plus-yardage possessions. But the Saxons turned the ball over at Hoffman's 20 on an incompletion and again at the 24 on Errick Delany's tackle-for-loss of quarterback Justin Perez.

At halftime, with a tenuous 14-7 lead despite being having been outgained and having run fewer plays, Hoffman had a mindset reversal.

"We just stepped it up," in the second half, Coalson said. With the defense consistently giving them field position, the Hawks capitalized. An 8-play, 68-yard drive ended with Tyae Grace's 5-yard TD scamper and featured his 19-yard run on a jet sweep. And they turned back the Saxons as Clevontae Jackson blocked Mason Laramie's 29-yard field goal attempt.

A fourth-quarter explosion featured a soft Coalson dime to Jayson Blissett on a 16-yard fade, a play set up after Coalson's pooch punt pinned Schaumburg at its own 1. Blissett had broken a 7-7 first-half tie, taking Coalson's bullet for a 67-yard TD down the middle, just 33 seconds after Hezekiah Trotter had tied the score on a 14-yard jet sweep of his own.

Twice the Hawks dug out of deep holes, once on a 3rd-and-26 swing pass run by Jaylin Johnson leading to Grace's TD.

Hoffman closed out the scoring on Benjamin Cotton's 14-yard jet sweep score.

Coalson credited it all to the defense giving them field position and the offensive line giving him time to throw.

"The defense kept turning the ball over," he noted and the offensive line "gave me time to throw the ball. If we do that, we have the athletes."

And now, the playoff spot to go with it.

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