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South Elgin keeps playoff hopes alive
Updated: October 8, 2011 7:47PM
One down and two to go for South Elgin. The Storm entered this week’s action needing three straight wins to end the season in order to make it to the playoffs for a third straight year. Those hopes are still alive after the Storm defeated visiting East Aurora 52-6 to celebrate their first ever homecoming at their new field. Six differnt players scored touchdowns for the Storm, while the defense held the Tomcats to just 48 yards.
“I wasn’t real pleased with a lot of the mistakes we made at the beginning of the game,” said South Elgin coach Dale Schabert. “But once we were able to score a couple times we settled in. We had to adjust the lineup quite a bit because we have 15 guys that didn’t dress because of injuries. But on the positive side that gave a lot of other guys some oppurtunities. We were able to spread the ball around. It was nice to see guys like Geno Passarelli and Joshua Hernandez and Andrew Weedman get the oppurtunity to score some touchdowns.”
The Storm overcame two first half interceptions in the red zone to lead 42-6 at the break. Starting tailback Adolfo Pacheco did some serious damage in limited action. The senior touched the ball only four times but gained 163 yards and scored three touchdowns. His 85-yard touchdown run on the Storm’s second possession of the game started the scoring. He added a 39-yard touchdown run and a 40-yard touchdown reception.from Zachary Gross
Gross also had a seven-yard touchdown run for the Storm’s second scored and later connected with Weedman on a 34 yard scoring strike. It was Weedman’s first touchdown of the season. Pacarrella (five rushes, 39 yards) scored his first varsity touchdown on an eight yard run in the second quarter. Hernandez also scored his first touchdown on a 36-yard pass form backup quarterback Joey Balaja in the fourth quarter.
The Storm’s defense was dominating not allowing a first down until the fourth quarter. East Aurora was stopped 13 times for negatives yards. Defensive lineman Devonte Greene was in on five of those stops behind the line of scrimmage. South Elgin also forced four turnovers. Zachary Werba had an interception, while Chris Bingham, Danny Mansfield, and Michael Heine all had fumble recoveries.
The lone bright spot for East Aurora came early in the second quarter when Jammar Littleton intercepted a tipped pass and ran 90 yards for a touchdown. It was Littleton’s first varsity after being called up from the sophomore squad.
“Those are the kind of moments we play for,” said East Aurora coach Bill Bryant. “To see a kid that’s been working hard get a chance to score a touchdown in his first game is great to see. We just try to build on every positive the best we can and make every play into a learning experience.”
For South Elgin the road to the playoffs gets a lot tougher when Geneva visits next week.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” said Schabert. “Geneva is a beast. They have a top flight quarterback who is having a great year. And they have some big kids. So we are going to need an excellent week of practice and be ready to go.”
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