Condors roll past Robeson

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:04PM

The Prep Bowl playoffs mean redemption time for Curie, and the Condors are taking full advantage.

"It's been a soft season," Curie quarterback Reese Fleming said. "People have been doubting us. We just had to get it together."

The Condors have done that, reaching the Public League title game with three straight wins after falling to Homewood-Flossmoor in the first round of the IHSA Class 8A playoffs. Their latest win came Monday afternoon, 34-6 over Robeson at Gately Stadium.

Curie (8-5) forced seven turnovers and scored three defensive touchdowns in advancing to Saturday's 4 p.m. Public League final at Gately against the Morgan Park/Dunbar winner.

"If we'd played like this earlier in the year, maybe we wouldn't be here," Curie coach Tyson LeBlanc said. "Maybe we'd still be playing in the state [playoffs]."

But the Condors are living in the present, rather than reliving the past. They watched extra film on Robeson (10-2) and its star quarterback Juwane Pipkins, who had passed for 1,028 yards and 11 touchdowns with just four interceptions before Monday.

"Our kids were prepared for what [Robeson] wanted to do," said LeBlanc, whose defense intercepted Pipkins (9 of 22, 119 yards) five times and recovered two Raiders fumbles.

"We've got speed and power, too," Fleming said. "They didn't know that. We had to prove everybody wrong."

The Condors wasted little time, getting four takeaways in the game's first 8:23 and turning two into points. Kevonta McIntyre returned one fumble 40 yards for a touchdown and Jibreel Jackson ran another back 20 yards for a score.

Fleming's 51-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter made it 20-0 and his 39-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Barker pushed the lead to 27-0 with 8:23 left in the third quarter. Barker ran an interception back 20 yards early in the fourth quarter for Curie's final score.

"If he was three inches taller, he'd be a Division I-type player," LeBlanc said of Barker. "But because he's 5-8, he's not."

Fleming ran 11 times for 97 yards and was 5-of-16 passing for 75 yards with one interception. McIntyre had 58 yards on 16 carries for Curie.

Pipkins scored Robeson's lone touchdown on a three-yard run with 8:04 left.

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