South Elgin, Pacheco run over Lake Park

Updated: September 10, 2011 1:20AM

South Elgin ran over host Lake Park 42-7 on a rainy Friday night in Roselle to open the season in the Upstate Eight Valley.

Adolfo Pacheco rushed for 154 yards on 17 carries and scored four touchdowns to lead the Storm (1-2).

“There were big holes everywhere,” said Pacheco. “Our line had a fantastic game. We worked on our defense all week. We’re going to put this game behind us and move on. We know now how it feels to win.”

The Storm opened the scoring with an 80-yard drive on its first possession. Pacheco finished the drive with a 5-yard run. The Storm continued its assault on the Lancers defense by scoring on its second possession on a 25-yard keeper by quarterback Zach Gross (9-for-15 for 148 yards) to make it 14-0 after one quarter. Gross rushed for 104 yards in the game.

“The first quarter was as exciting as any game I have been involved in,” said Storm coach Dale Schabert. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of these kids to face a little adversity with the short week (due to playing Monday in Metamora).”

Pacheco scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter on runs of 7 and 5 yards and added a fourth score following a Lancers fumble with a 4-yard run in the third quarter.

The Lancers (1-2, 0-1) only score was a 46-yard reception by Tyler Smith from Zack Gehant in the second quarter.

The Storm totally dominated the Lancers throughout the game, holding them to 18 yards rushing in the first half. Lancers running back LaCurt Evans, who scored five touchdowns in the previous two games, was held to 14 yards on 13 carries.

“We came out here with a playoff atmosphere and intensity,” said Gross. “We really needed this game. I felt good in practice this week and the team did a good job.”

Michael Bahena scored a touchdown for the Storm on a 2-yard run to close out the scoring for the Storm.

“I’m disappointed that we let (the Storm) take the game away from us early,” said first-year Lancers coach Chris Roll. “Our kids are going to have to grow up after a game like this. It doesn’t get any easier in this conference.”

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