Breaking down Fremd, Palatine match-up
The first football playoff meeting between Palatine and Fremd on Friday night figures to be one to remember in a rivalry that was born in 1967. Daily Herald sports writer Marty Maciaszek picks his top five games and looks at other memorable moments in a series Fremd leads 25-16.
No. 1 - What a finish (1995)
One of the most anticipated games in their history saw Fremd come in at 8-0 and Palatine 7-1 to their MSL North finale. No one could do anything offensively for nearly 431/2 minutes on a cold, wet, windy and muddy night at Fremd. Then Mike Burden, who played at Ohio State, broke loose for a 21-yard run and the only points for Palatine in a 6-0 victory.
No. 2 - An extra, extra thriller (1990)
Palatine was battling for an MSL North title and Fremd was just 1-6. But the Vikings fought into two overtimes and went ahead when third-string QB Tom Houlihan found current BG coach Jim Farrell for an 8-yard TD. Palatine's Dan Stopka scored on a 5-yard run but Dave Rawske batted away a 2-point pass as Fremd won 17-16.
No. 3 - A Rocco road caps dramatic rally (1998)
The tide was shifting in the rivalry as Palatine's 12-year playoff run was already over and Fremd was in the fourth-year of its current run of 14 trips. But the running and passing of Yaacov Yisrael, who would play at Penn State, sparked the Pirates to a 14-0 lead. Fremd came back on TD runs by Patrick Brown and Jim LaFalce and pulled out a 17-14 win on Rocco Rinaldi's 32-yard field goal with nine seconds left.
No. 4 - Making a stand (2008)
Palatine was looking to end a 7-game cross-town skid before more than 6,000 at home and scored the first 21 points en route to a 28-7 lead as Jamie Silveira ran for a TD and caught another from Matt Rossi. Fremd rallied behind school record-setting nights by QB Mike Tauchman and WR Andrew Corso but Joe Pelnar's stop on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 1:11 left preserved Palatine's 28-21 victory.
No. 5 - First time for overtime (1973)
A 2-point conversion run with 1:06 to play by Palatine's Jim Maycan forced the first overtime game in MSL history. But Fremd took the ball first in overtime as Tom Bullen scored from 10 yards on the first play and Jeff Hallberg's stop a foot short of the goal line preserved a 21-14 victory.
Other memorable moments
•Don Spence's 15-yard screen pass to Kevin Freund on fourth down in the third quarter produced the only points as Fremd won the first cross-town meeting 6-0.
•Fremd's 7-0 win in 1970 spoiled Palatine's first night game at old Ost Field.
•A 55-yard bomb by Mark Pettit, the son of legendary Blackhawks announcer Lloyd Pettit, gave Fremd a 7-0 win in 1972.
•Palatine linebacker Brad Bouwman is credited with taking part in 26 tackles in a 14-7 loss to Fremd in 1976.
•The lowest-scoring game in series history in 1983 saw Fremd win 3-0 on a 26-yard field goal with 5:32 left by Dave Eck, whose dad Al starred at Palatine in the 1950s.
•Fourth-string quarterback Taylor Bechtold's 24-yard pass to Ed Solis set up the only TD in Palatine's 7-0 win in 1991.
•Deron Birsa threw for 2 touchdowns and future Northwestern star Keith Lozowski ran for another as Fremd capped its first perfect regular season in 1992 with a 21-13 win at Palatine.
•Palatine quarterback Mike Hnytka engineered a 51-29 upset in 2000 that is the highest-scoring game in the series.
•Fremd's Mike Tauchman ties a school record with 4 interceptions in a 24-7 win last season.
Trivial pursuits
•There have been 11 shutouts in the series - Fremd had the first seven and the last of Palatine's four was 21-0 in 1997.
•The only year the series wasn't played was 1969, the last year before the Mid-Suburban League went to division play.
•Fremd has had series winning streaks of 9 (1976-84) and 7 (2001-07) games. Palatine's longest streak is 5 games (1993-97).
They said it
"We don't need to push very many buttons for this game. This game is a natural. I can go on vacation and come back and they'll be ready."
- Fremd coach Joe Samjoedny after his team's 31-7 win in 1989.
"Palatine gets 10 points a game on mystique."
- Fremd coach Mike Donatucci after Palatine's 21-0 win in 1997.
"There's no personal satisfaction in beating (Fremd star quarterback) George Poorman. I just like beating Fremd."
- Palatine quarterback Dave Sharkey after a 24-14 win in 1987.