Onsen, Halloran carry Coal City

Updated: October 28, 2011 11:43PM

Coal City senior quarterback Cody Onsen had quite a night for himself Friday in the Coalers’ 45-7 4A first-round home playoff victory over Chicago Fenger. And he even found a way to let his good friend Matt Halloran join in the fun.

Onsen completed 10-of-14 passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns, with all three of the scoring passes going to Halloran, one of his fellow seniors. In fact, those were the only three catches for Halloran on the night and he certainly made the most of them.

“Those two guys have been playing together a long time,” Coal City coach, and father of the quarterback, Lenny Onsen said. “I’d say they have their timing down pretty good and know each other’s moves very well.”

All three Onsen-to-Halloran scoring passes came in the first half when the Coalers (9-1, 4-1) put the game away by taking a 25-0 lead into intermission. The three plays went for four, 25 and 21 yards, respectively.

Onsen scored the other first-half touchdown himself on a three-yard run.

Junior tight end Matt Burchfield was the Coalers’ top receiver of the night, hauling in four balls for 66 yards. Junior Casey Stepp also had three grabs for 33 yards.

Fenger (6-4, 4-1) scored its only touchdown on a 28-yard scoring pass by Darrion Boone to Maalik Terril in the fourth quarter.

The win pushes No. 2 seed Coal City into the second round where it will either face fellow Interstate Eight Conference foe and seventh-seeded Plano at home or No. 10 seed Stillman Valley on the road.

“It is always a challenge to play a team a second time and that would be the case with Plano if they win on Saturday,” Lenny Onsen said. “We’ve been through them before and know that regardless of who we play it will be smash mouth football.”

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