South Elgin blanks Elgin for 3rd straight shutout
The South Elgin defense continued its dominance on Friday night recording its third straight shutout in a 51-0 win over Elgin at Memorial Field.
The Storm held the Maroons to zero yards of offense in the first half and just 98 for the game.
It's the first time a South Elgin team has recorded 3 shutouts in a season and the key to the success has been pretty simple according to head coach Dragan Teonic.
"We are not doing any thing complicated," Teonic said. "We just have some really bright football players who play smart and physical and get to the ball. On top of that we don't miss many tackles. It's a unit that takes a lot of pride in what they do."
Defensive back Patrick Noworol is just one of 4 senior starters for the Storm defensive and serves as a catalyst.
"Our coaches deserve a lot of credit," Noworol said. "They do a great job of researching the other teams and getting us ready with a game plan. When you are prepared you can just fly to the ball. Our motto is 9-5-9. That stands for 9 players 5 yards from the ball 90 percent of the time. We try to do that every play."
Noworol also played a big role on the offensive with a team leading 97 yards rushing on 5 carries, including a 54-yard touchdown run in the second half.
"Davion Cherwin my lead blocker deserves all the credit (on the touchdown run)," Noworol said. "He sealed the block on the corner and left me with a clear path. We have a lot of good running backs on our team all with different skill sets."
Noworol was one of 10 South Elgin backs to combine for 257 yards rushing on 38 carries with 5 different backs combining for 6 rushing touchdowns.
Cherwin had a pair of touchdown runs. His first came just 15 seconds into the game on a 12-yard run following a long return off an onside kick attempt to start the game. Cherwin later had a 6-yard touchdown run just before halftime to make it 24-0.
Azxavier Salinas added a 2-yard touchdown run in the first half while the defense recorded a safety on a sack by Keshawn Smith.
Quarterback Jakob Johnson got in on the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter while Travis Tranchitella scored on a 19-yard run.
"Our running backs are like hockey lines," Teonic said. "We can just keep rolling out a fresh set of legs. We believe in playing a lot of people."
Ian Nathan had the defensive play of the game with a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second half.
"I had their best player in a one-on-one and I knew they were going to him," Nathan said. "I just read my steps and made a break on the ball. It was pretty exciting to score. We just work real hard on defense and outlast our opponents."
Elgin falls to 0-3 with the loss.
"There's no where to go but up," said Elgin coach Anthony Mason. "We just have to keep working on executing better."