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Elgin stuns Streamwood in final seconds

Elgin football coach Anthony Mason left little doubt what player was going to get the ball as his team faced a fourth-and-goal from the Streamwood 2-yard line Friday night.

Senior quarterback Clem McCullough scored on a 2-yard keeper with 8.4 seconds remaining to lift the Maroons (1-3, 1-3) to a 34-30 victory over host Streamwood (1-3, 1-3) at Millennium Field.

The touchdown run capped a 12-play, 47-yard drive in the final 4:47 for the Maroons, who trailed by 10 points early in the third quarter.

"Heck, no," Mason said when asked if he thought about kicking a field goal with his team down by 2 in the final seconds. "We missed a field goal in our first game, and we've missed a couple PAT kicks.

"I trust Clem (McCullough), our offensive line and our running backs there. Jesse Villagomez was our right tackle on that play and Clem ran behind him."

McCullough, who accounted for 319 yards of offense - 107 yards passing and 212 yards rushing - was pleased to come through in the clutch.

"I was just looking for any open holes," said McCullough, who had 24 of his 36 carries in the second half. "The line did a great job.

"We've been working hard all week - actually the last three weeks after those losses. We're not going to stop until the final whistle. That's what we did, and we got a win."

Elgin took a 20-0 first-quarter lead on a pair of McCullough touchdown runs covering 1 and 18 yards, respectively, and Adyn Avina's 23-yard fumble recovery for a TD.

However, the Sabres answered with 30 unanswered points, 24 of them coming in the second quarter.

D'Nico Lewis scored on a 1-yard run, Isaac Martinez (10 carries, 94 yards) scored on a 39-yard run, and Michael Estrada (20 carries, 175 yards) added a 6-yard run as Streamwood led 24-20 at halftime.

Estrada's 33-yard TD run on the Sabres' opening series of the second half helped extend the margin to 30-20 before Elgin cut the deficit to 30-28 on McCullough's 36-yard TD run and a 2-point conversion pass to Matt Lawson midway through the third quarter.

McCullough, who also played in the secondary on defense, finished with 4 touchdowns and a world of praise from his coach.

"He's a playmaker," Mason said of his quarterback. "He is as tough as nails."

Playing without starting quarterback Kevin Lunz (broken arm), Streamwood struggled throughout with snap exchanges - dropping the ball to the turf 9 times with a pair of fumbles lost.

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