A good hands day for St. Francis

St. Francis football coach Mike Fitzgerald handed the Class 6A quarterfinal plaque to Matt Hanson. He knew Hanson wouldn't drop it.

The sixth-seeded Spartans dropped little on Saturday but No. 10 seed Hinsdale South, 41-14 at Kuhn Memorial Stadium in Wheaton.

Hanson twice yanked the ball from defenders for touchdown receptions and finished with 5 catches for 143 yards. His 62-yard streak on St. Francis' second play set up the first score, his second-quarter interception led to another.

"Everyone was asking me what I had for breakfast," Hanson said. "I was like, just eggs and bacon, man, that's all there is to it."

Spartans quarterback Clint Bobowski completed 14 of 23 passes for 263 yards and 4 touchdowns, each coming in a crushing 27-point second quarter.

"Whatever the team is we have to tweak and change things a little bit, but it always works out," Bobowski said. "A great job on the defense, too, adjusting to an offense they have not seen much of. But they were able to shut down the triple option, do a great job."

Hinsdale South (9-3) ended its best playoff run since 2005.

"This is now the expectation," said Hornets coach Mike Barry. "I just mentioned that to the team, mentioned that to our younger guys. We're in our fourth year as a program, and we feel like we're headed in the right direction, so we're real excited about the future."

Answering Steven Fassnacht's 9-yard touchdown run for a quick St. Francis lead, the Hornets' Jawahn Downing recovered a muffed punt return. Quarterback Robert Regan broke a keeper 47 yards to tie at 8:10 of the first quarter.

"Everything just fell into place. Everyone just did their job and made their blocks," said Regan, who finished with 68 yards rushing. Junior back Marcus Curry ran for 123 yards with a late 52-yard touchdown.

Soon, everything fell into place for St. Francis (10-2).

Hanson stripped a Hornet on a 52-yard touchdown catch and cleared out deep coverage on Thomas Petrando's 34-yard touchdown grab.

Hanson intercepted, then sprawled backward to catch a tipped pass for a first down. Bobowski's 23-yard touchdown strike to Chris Smith followed. The roles reversed - Smith intercepted and Hanson wrestled the ball from a Hornet on a 9-yard slant for a 34-7 halftime lead.

"The defender literally had the ball and I had to take it from him," Hanson said. "I knew if I got my arm under it I could take it from him."

Smith's second pick led to Will Purdom's 14-yard touchdown run for a 41-7 lead at 2:37 of the third quarter.

Earning its first semifinal berth since its 2008 Class 5A title season, St. Francis visits former Driscoll coach Tim Racki and No. 1 Nazareth, which beat Lake Forest 54-24.

"They've worked their tails off to get here," Fitzgerald said. "They've made a huge commitment, and it's just nice to see that their work is being rewarded."