South Elgin sharp in shutout of West Chicago
The South Elgin football team wore down visiting West Chicago play by play under the hot August sun in a 40-0 victory Saturday.
The Wildcats held their own for a quarter of the Upstate Eight Conference season opener, but South Elgin's superior depth became a factor in the second period as the first of several Wildcats fell victim to cramping.
The Storm led 6-0 after a quarter, courtesy of junior Shiking Marshall's 6-yard sweep for a touchdown with 1:59 left.
They blew it open with a 20-point second quarter and added single touchdowns in the third and fourth to institute a running clock with 10:30 left. It was the first victory at South Elgin for new coach Dragan Teonic. The win was his 50th overall in a career that has included stints at Hersey, Harper College and Larkin.
"We played about four different running backs and six or seven slots and probably six other receivers and two quarterbacks, so that's a lot of kids to play," Teonic said. "And on defense it was a constant rotation, so I was happy with that. We were able to get out of here without a lot of cramps or injuries. We played pretty clean."
West Chicago dressed approximately 35 players, though new coach Jack Rustman said 10 more late arrivals will be eligible for next Friday's home opener against West Aurora.
"We had a lot of kids going both ways for us and cramping became an issue," said Rustman, who was recruited out of high school by Teonic when he was at Harper. "We see a lot of positives. It's a different program. It's a different mentality coming into games. These kids see it. We're in a positive place."
"We got glimmers," 6-foot-2 West Chicago wide receiver Mike Wagner said. We're only going to progress from here." Wagner made 3 catches for 15 yards, rushed once for 14 yards and threw a 21-yard completion on a double pass on the first play from scrimmage.
The Storm defense allowed little else. South Elgin limited the Wildcats to 126 total yards, 65 rushing in 23 attempts. Starting senior cornerback Azxavier Salinas was part of that effort, highlighted by his diving interception of a tipped pass that terminated West Chicago's first series.
The plan, according to Teonic, was for Salinas to split time at quarterback with fellow senior Jakob Johnson. Salinas ended up playing most of three quarters at quarterback after Johnson started but left with a bruised sternum.
Both quarterbacks played well. Johnson had 6 carries for 32 yards and a touchdown and completed 4-of-9 attempts for 62 yards without an interception. Salinas rushed for 33 yards and a touchdown on 3 carries, completed 6-of-8 tries for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns and was intercepted once.
The balanced Storm offense rushed for 179 yards and threw for 180. Salinas said the team had the right mindset entering the season opener.
"Coach Teonic wants us to play loose and I think that's the best way to play," he said. "He doesn't want us to think too much. He just wants us to play hard. I love playing for him."
Samuel Robles staked the Storm to a 20-0 lead midway through the second quarter with a 10-yard reception from Salinas that he turned into an 18-yard touchdown.
Marshall provided an early dagger just before halftime. He caught a short pass from Salinas, broke a tackle and raced 58 yards to increase the lead to 26-0 with 44.3 seconds left in the second quarter.
"It was a great block by my boy, Ricky Russo," Marshall said. "It was a whole-team touchdown, not just me."