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Hoffman Estates beats Schaumburg for 5th straight win

Thirty years ago this week, as the Hoffman Estates football program was en route to its third straight playoff appearance and fourth in five seasons, the Hall Of Fame rock group Bon Jovi released their new hit single, "Keep The Faith."

Perhaps that song may be the best way to describe this year's edition of Hoffman's team. It has rebounded from an 0-2 start to four consecutive wins and a share of first in the Mid-Suburban West.

They Hawks hosted an archrival Schaumburg squad Friday who came into the contest winners of three of their last four after also starting the 2022 campaign 0-2.

It's become a sentiment that one of the catalysts for the turnaround, junior RB Quincy Williams, spoke of a couple of weeks after a come-from-behind win over Hoffman's other archrival, Conant.

"It's a blessing to be with them because I know they can bounce back (at) anytime," Williams said. "They put their heart into this, so I'm going to do the same for them."

Williams, who had averaged 116 yards a game rushing during the streak, also gave high praise to his offensive teammates for having faith with him.

"They've kept my head up (when) I messed up a couple of times, but we've bounced back as a team together. I really appreciate my (offensive) line and my wide receivers for blocking their (tails) off for me."

And it was that effort that once again set a winning note as the Hawks (5-2, 3-0) earned their fifth straight win 49-7 over the visiting Saxons (3-4, 1-2) to keep pace with Palatine (6-1, 3-0). Last season's MSL West co-champions remained atop the West with two weeks left in regular season play as they will meet on Oct. 21 in Palatine. The Pirates bested Barrington 47-14 at home.

"We had to tweak some things after weeks 1 and 2 and it has worked the past five weeks," Hoffman coach Tim Heyse said.

The Hawks needed to do some in-game tweaking after Schaumburg tied the game at 7 on Anthony DiGioia's 2-yard TD run with 2:49 left in the first.

They re-emphasized a commitment to Williams and the ground game as he gained 94 of his season-high 229 yards (34 carries) in the second that included two of his three TD runs (1 and 2 yards) that gave them a 21-7 lead. The spread swelled to 28-7 on the second scoring air connection between Aiden Cyr (11-20 for 114 yards) and Stephon Sellers (28 yards) with 22 ticks remaining until halftime.

An Ivan Rodriguez recovery of a Saxon squib kick that he took 45 yards to pay dirt on the opening whistle of half number two just seven seconds in closed off any hopes of a Schaumburg comeback.

After Williams scored his third touchdown with 3:33 left in the quarter, his backup Dimarte Neustader (13 carries, 89 yards) finished the scoring on a 1 yard run with 8:05 left in the contest as the Hawks gained 412 yards of total offense on the night.

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