Schaumburg rolls - and stays hungry
To think, even after delivering a 57-7 win Friday night, Schaumburg's football team thinks it can still play better.
While it will get its chance to find out, Schaumburg (2-1) did show that it is not "full of itself," according to its coach, even after coasting pretty much after the first quarter.
"I thought it took is a little while to get going," said coach Mark Stilling, whose defense limited Niles West (0-3) to 139 total yards, rang up 5 turnovers and consistently landed the offense in good field position.
But after Niles West's Jack Lochner hit John Trinh to set up a short Trinh TD run to make it 14-7, you had to wonder about Stilling's words.
His team got the message, though.
Heze Trotter, who already had a 62-yard reception for a TD on a strike from Marcus Ross and had added a 65-yard kickoff return for a touchdown after Niles West's score, showed he wasn't done yet. In fact, he was just getting started.
His 32-yard punt return set up an efficient 6-play, 38-yard drive, concluded by Michael DiGioia's 12-yard TD burst behind a linemen Brennan Schweigert, Cameron Davis, Allen Okanovic and Dane McMahon, who just kept opening truck-like holes. DiGioia finished with 123 yards on 14 carries, plus another TD on a bolt of 43 yards on which he refused to be tackled.
"Our offensive line really stepped up," DiGioia said. "They gave Marcus (Ross) lots of time."
Trotter, though, when all was said and done, delivered the kickoff return TD, the long-pass reception for a score, 2 rushes for 18 yards and even punted when needed. He also anchors the defense from his free safety spot.
"I love the role," he said. "I love being on the field as much as possible to help the team win. I never get tired."
On defense, Connor Casamento-Barry, Malik Moore-Rozier, Andy Ayala and Jeremy Serio helped keep Niles West bottled up, Ayala adding an interception.
But like his coach, Trotter agreed, "We came out kind of slow."
"We have some things to clean up," Stilling noted.
One of them isn't Ross, who finished 4 of 8 for 102 yards and 2 TDs, a second one to Ayala in the runaway second half, while suffering no picks.
John Calabria even gained 56 yards on 15 carries, leading the second unit, running hard and scoring a touchdown as everyone chipped in.
Whatever happens, the Saxons are ready for it, especially with a defense that erases what few mistakes the offense makes.
"Anytime you get five turnvoers, you're doing some good things," said Stilling.
"We have a saying," Trotter said in punctuating that. "We bend, but we don't break."