Cyr's big night helps Hoffman Estates clinch playoff berth, share of MSL West title

Back in the fall of 1994, Hoffman Estates wrapped up its fourth Mid-Suburban League South Division title in seven years by beating archrival Conant, which was quarterbacked by a senior named Tim Heyse.

Flash forward to Friday night where Heyse, now Hoffman's head coach, was guiding his Hawks squad to a share of its first MSL divisional title by defeating their other archrival Schaumburg 49-20 at Garber Stadium as Hawks senior quarterback Aiden Cyr threw for 6 touchdowns.

Hoffman (7-1, 4-0) can capture the West outright next Friday with a win at Palatine. The Pirates (5-3, 3-1) bested their archrival Fremd 31-16 on the road. Hoffman Estates also guaranteed itself a playoff berth with the win.

"We told them (our players) they (Schaumburg) were going to be tough to beat," Heyse said. "You know this is a rivalry. Two close towns where kids are friends with their friends. It's a pride thing. So, Schaumburg and us, it's always a tough game."

The visiting Saxons (2-6, 0-4) made it that way in the early part of the contest when they took their second lead of the night on senior Takumi Fred's 11-yard touchdown run to give them a 12-6 advantage with 4:12 left in the first quarter.

But the home team took the lead back for good in their first possession of the second quarter when they took advantage of a short field that saw Cyr find Stephen Sellers for an 8-yard scoring connection that gave Hoffman a 13-12 lead with 7:48 left in the first half.

On the Hawks' next possession came the play of the game when on a 4th and 7 from the Schaumburg 30-yard line, Cyr was able to recover a high snap from center and then threw a dart to an awaiting Jashawn Johnson, who snared it between a quarter of the Saxon defenders for a touchdown that made it 20-12 with 4:30 left until halftime.

Cyr credited his teammates for aiding him on the score.

"I saw him (Johnson) down the field. I knew I could trust him and (then) made the play," Cyr said. I (also) trusted my offensive line to give me the time and protection I needed."

Then after a partially blocked punt, Cyr found Xavier Martinez for a 32-yard TD toss, his fourth of the half for a 27-12 lead at the break.

Cyr (25-for-37, 353 yards passing) added a pair of TD passes to Johnson (12 receptions, 202 yards, 3 TDs) and Sellers, plus a 15-yard scoring run to complete the evening's success for the Hawks.

"The funny part is that you talk about all our skill players, Aiden doesn't get talked about enough," Heyse said. "He's a quiet leader who is getting better week by week."