advertisement

Bartlett blanks West Chicago

Alums who attended Bartlett's Homecoming Game Friday night left their alma mater happy as the Hawks blanked Upstate Eight Conference foe West Chicago, 49-0.

Bartlett dominated on both sides of the ball gaining a total of 376 yards while holding the Wildcats to 56.

"Everything we were doing was working," said Bartlett coach Matt Erlenbaugh. "The run game was solid. The passing game was solid and defensively we held them."

"We have to learn how to come and play in adversity. That's the biggest thing for us," said Jack Rustman, the West Chicago coach. "We come out, we're not used to a grass field. It's muddy. Our kids don't know how to react to that. It gets into their heads and we start going south."

The Hawks scored on 5 of their 6 first-half drives.

A 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jonah O'Brien to Alec Palella ended the Hawks' first drive with 8:42 left in the first quarter. Another O'Brien TD pass, a 40-yarder to Spencer Konstanzer, ended Bartlett's second possession.

Nick Deckard finished the Hawks' first quarter scoring on a 1-yard run with seconds left in the period.

Bartlett (4-2, 4-2) extended the lead to 28-0 on its first drive of the second quarter on a 6-yard run by Tyler Rivelli.

O'Brien gave his team a 35-0 halftime lead on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 43 seconds left in the second quarter.

Deckard scored his second touchdown, a 13-yard run on the last of his 19 carries at the 7:32 mark of the third quarter increasing Bartlett's lead to 42-0. The senior rushed for 114 yards.

Deckard is optimistic about the last third of the regular season.

"Our improvement has been insane. There is a lot of potential on this team and I think we can do big things," said Deckard. "I'm really excited to see what we can do."

It was also the last play of the night for O'Brien, who completed all of his 10 passing attempts for a total of 146 yards.

Anthony Siciliano scored Bartlett's last TD on a 6-run run halfway through the third quarter.

Switching Kostanzer's position on defense paid off for Bartlett. The senior recovered two fumbles. The first one in the first quarter set up the Hawks' second score.

"He really stood out with a rushing touchdown and two takeaways. He was one I was extremely impressed with," Erlenbaugh said. "Plus we moved him to a different position on defense from linebacker to defensive end."

West Chicago's best scoring opportunity came midway in the second quarter when the Wildcats (0-6, 0-6) got to Bartlett's 26-yard line as the result of a 33-yard run by Jordan Garcia (6 carries for 44 yards). The drive ended when the Hawks forced another fumble.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.