Palatine continues winning ways against Schaumburg
Schaumburg's homecoming theme this weekend is "Out of This World."
On Friday night, the Saxons' football team hosted Palatine, which was one week removed from doing something, well, otherworldly - stunning Illinois' top-ranked 8A team Maine South, 20-19.
How do you top that?
You don't, but Palatine's Pirates took care of business anyway after a shaky start, defeating Schaumburg 34-0 in a Mid-Suburban League West opener behind senior running back/outside linebacker/kicker Bobby Widlowski's pair of field goals (36 and 22 yards), 4 extra points, 5-yard touchdown run, 73 yards rushing and a pair of tackles for losses (minus-6 and minus-8 yards).
All-World stuff.
"He's just a ... football player," said Pirates coach Corey Olson, whose crew improved to 3-2 overall. "Palatine kid, tough kid, a ... football player."
Schaumburg (2-3, 0-1) got creative on its first play from scrimmage, with senior Takumi Fred hitting wideout Fabian Baez on a 61-yard halfback option near Palatine's sideline that put the ball on the Pirates' 22-yard line. But Palatine's defense - stout, swarming and relentless all night - stymied the hosts on a fourth-and-goal running play from the 2.
Palatine led 13-0 at the break and essentially clinched the contest with 2 touchdowns in the third quarter.
"Schaumburg always plays us tough," Olson said. "We knew that. And Schaumburg wanted to be up for this division game as much as we were. It came down to senior leadership, like it always does, especially coming off the kind of win we had last weekend.
"Our seniors made sure the entire team was dialed back in for this game."
Palatine junior quarterback Grant Dersnah recovered nicely after completing only 1 of his first 8 passes. He finished 8-of-16 for 113 yards, including a 17-yard scoring toss to senior Mitch Larkin, who also recorded a sack at his linebacker position.
Pirates backup quarterback Danny Hopper went 3-for-4 for 28 yards and rushed 6 times for 58 more yards. His last tote was a 12-yard touchdown run that capped the night's scoring with 10:28 left in the final frame.
Palatine junior running back Tyron Lucket (13 rushes, 48 yards) took a handoff and burst for a 3-yard touchdown, expanding the visitors' lead to 26-0 at the 2:20 mark of the third quarter.
Junior wideout Thomas Coroneos hauled in 3 balls for 51 yards, and classmate Josh Reisweig ended up with 3 receptions for 34 yards.
Palatine junior Daevion Farrow recorded a sack and pounced on a muffed punt attempt in the first half. Senior teammate Anthony Westfall also finished with a sack for the Pirates, whose 0-2 start this fall must feel like it occurred a decade ago.
Schaumburg's Baez finished with 3 catches for a game-high 90 yards.