Riverside-Brookfield's big plays sink Wauconda
It was a rough one for Wauconda on Friday night as the host Bulldogs faced the visiting Bulldogs of Riverside-Brookfield in nonconference football action.
And a huge turn of events at the end of the first half didn't help Wauconda any as Riverside-Brookfield built a 20-7 halftime lead en route to an impressive 43-21 victory.
A 20-yard keeper down the left sideline by R-B quarterback Hunter Hughes followed by teammate Colin Riordan's extra point gave the visitors a 7-0 lead just 2:18 into the contest.
But Wauconda (0-2) responded on its fourth possession as junior running back Cameron Francis (71 yards on 12 carries) bolted 43 yards off right tackle for the touchdown right after defensive lineman teammate Drew Frontzak had intercepted a pass by Hughes near midfield. The extra point by Oscar Acosta deadlocked the score at 7-7 with no time left in the first quarter.
Riverside's next possession was an effective one as the Bulldogs marched 53 yards in seven plays with running back Nicolas Del Nodal (123 yards on 20 attempts) scoring on a 32-yard TD run on a first-down play for a 14-7 lead with 8:34 left in the second quarter.
Then came the huge turn of events as Wauconda had a second-and-10 from the Riverside 27-yard-line. But Wauconda quarterback Andrew Saccameno (6-for-17, 113 yards passing) could not handle the high snap, and the visitors recovered the ball at their own 39 with only 25.8 seconds left in the first half.
Hughes (11-for-16, 180 yards passing) hit Devin Moody with a 29-yard pass to the Wauconda 32 before throwing a 30-yard pass to Stefan Giminski. Then with only nine seconds left in the first half, Del Nodal scored on a 2-yard run to suddenly give R-B a 20-7 lead at the intermission.
"We've just got to be more consistent, and too many times we gave up long third downs," said Wauconda coach Dave Mills. "Brookfield is a good team, they have been a 7- or 8-win team and a second-round playoff team and next week we have a very good Antioch team coming to town."
The momentum carried into the third quarter for R-B as it marched 64 yards on 13 plays before scoring on somewhat of a fluke play.
On third-and-goal from the 18, Hughes scrambled to the 2-yard-line where he was hit by a Wauconda defender and fumbled the ball. But R-B teammate Vaugh Hilpp was able to recover the ball in the end zone for the touchdown and a 27-7 advantage.
Then came a safety for R-B (2-0) as Wauconda snapped the ball out of the end zone on a third-and-17 play from its own 14 to make the score 29-7 with 4:08 left in the third quarter.
To make matters even worse, Del Nodal returned the ensuing punt 73 yards down the right sideline for the touchdown and a commanding 36-7 lead at that point.
"No. 25 (Del Nodal) doesn't need a whole lot of big holes, and every time the ball is snapped Hunter (Hughes) has the potential to make a big play with his arm or his legs," said R-B coach Brendan Curtin. "I felt like the offense was clicking well at times, and the offensive line really gelled."
Wauconda did continue battling to the end as Saccameno hit Nick Rinchiuso with a 40-yard TD pass to cut the gap to 36-14 with 8:25 to play.
A 50-yard TD run by R-B's Chris Doherty boosted the lead back to 43-14 with 3:58 remaining before a 31-yard TD pass from Saccameno to Francis with 2.9 seconds left accounted for the final score.
"Cameron Francis was a bright spot, and as we get healthy things will get better for us," added Mills. "We had three big drops and we didn't complete the plays, and that is a part of that inconsistency."