Bartlett hands South Elgin 1st loss, ties for UEC lead

The "Rivalry Bell" is staying in Bartlett for another season.

A year ago, Bartlett's football team rallied for three 4th-quarter touchdowns, including the game-winner with 52 seconds remaining, to stun South Elgin, 30-25.

This time, the Hawks (7-1, 7-1) held off a valiant 2nd-half comeback attempt by the Storm (7-1, 7-1) during Friday night's 17-14 Upstate Eight Conference victory before a standing-room-only crowd in Bartlett.

"It's huge," said Hawks coach Matt Erlenbaugh. "It gives us an opportunity to become conference champions. Obviously, we've got to take care of business next week, too (against Streamwood.

"It also puts us in a better place for playoff seeding but overall this is what the kids play for. They play for this experience."

Coming into the game averaging 54 points while having given up just 7 points in as many contests, the Storm had the tables turned on them early on.

After South Elgin's opening offensive series resulted in a 3-and-out, the Hawks struck first - and fast.

Quarterback Michael Priami (10 of 19, 73 yards) capped the 4-play, 59-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Mathew Young, giving the Hawks a 7-0 lead.

Junior linebacker Nicholas Mangoni helped halt South Elgin's next possession with an interception.

Eight plays later, the Hawks extended their lead to 14-0 when Jordan Snyder capped a 78-yard drive with his 9-yard TD run through the middle of the Storm defense.

"That's what we said we had to do to win - we had to be the more physical team and we definitely were tonight," said Erlenbaugh.

On the final play of the first half, Xander Salyers booted a 25-yard field goal to give the Hawks a 17-0 lead at the intermission.

"We came out hard and hit them in the mouth," said Hawks junior linebacker Alec Palella, who led the spirited defensive effort alongside teammates Max Nordlund, Brenden Gran, Joseph Latrofa, Nathan Tomaso, Alexander Becque, Jakub Maniak, Liam Gallagher, Abel Serrato and Mangoni.

"Nobody had done that to them."

The Hawks held South Elgin to 3 first downs and 46 total yards of offense, including 7 rushing yards, in the first half.

"They stormed us - no pun intended," said Storm coach Dragan Teonic. "They did a great job at just coming after us. They scored on their first two drives.

"They did an awesome job schematically of confusing us in the first half."

That changed in the second half.

South Elgin got on the board midway through the third quarter on a 21-yard TD run by sophomore quarterback Ben Karpowicz (12 of 24, 108 yards).

Karpowicz added another touchdown run - a 2-yard keeper - as the Storm narrowed the gap to 17-14 with 4:51 remaining.

South Elgin's defense forced a punt on Bartlett's next possession but the Hawks' Tyler Rivelli recovered a fumble on the return with 3:27 left.

The Storm had one last chance, moving from their own 19 to near midfield before Karpowicz's desperation heave fell incomplete as time expired.

"It was just heart," said Palella, who added back-to-back sacks in the second half.

"We were 4 to 1 in turnovers - that's minus 3," said Teonic. "When you do that, you don't deserve to win."