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St. Charles East's offense stays on fire

The Saints are heading into the playoffs on a roll.

St. Charles East's defense pitched its third straight shutout to close the regular season and the Saints continued pounding the ball on the ground with a 56-0 defeat of Streamwood in Upstate Eight River action at Millennium Field.

St. Charles East intercepted Sabre quarterback Brendon Marton 4 times and sacked him twice and held the Sabres to minus 17 yards rushing.

Offensively, everybody got into the act for the Saints (7-2, 4-2) as 5 different players scored touchdowns. In all, 9 players carried the ball, combining for more than 300 yards on the ground.

Saints' quarterback Clayton Isbell played just 1 series. After slightly tweaking an existing injury, he didn't return. Saints coach Bryce Farquhar said he probably could have played, but the Saints didn't need him. Sophomore backup BJ Crossen attempted just 4 passes, but completed 3 of them, including an 83-yard scoring strike to Ronan Macaluso in the second quarter.

"Our defense is playing really well right now," Farquhar said. "They're executing, and to post three straight shutouts, you've got to execute really well, and that's what they're doing."

The Saints held Streamwood to 3-and-outs on 3 of its first 4 possessions, the other ending with an interception. And St. Charles East quickly converted those short fields into points, going up 28-0 on the second play of the second quarter.

Crossen, Macaluso, and Justin Jett scored twice each for SCE. Jacob Guzick and Sam Scialabba added TDs on the ground.

The loss closed out a frustrating season for the Sabres (0-9, 0-6), but coach Don Guindon saw progress that will lead to better things in the future.

"We don't have a win, but the culture change we've made in the classroom, that we've made in the school, are going to propel the program forward in the future," he said. "We haven't had any issues academically, any issues with the classroom stuff, and the seniors are responsible for that."

Marton finished 6 of 14 for 76 yards for Streamwood. Erik Jopek had 2 receptions for 38 yards, and Frank Fritzmann had 2 for 33, including a nice catch on a pass from punter Jamel Sheppard on a second-quarter fake.

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