Top-seeded Bartlett escapes Dons

Bartlett's Corleon Richardson (34) looks for room to run around Notre Dame's Pat Lazzara in the first round of the playoffs.
(Tyler Stoffel/For the Courier News)

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Bartlett’s defense came up big, as the No.7 Hawks edged Notre Dame 10-7 in a Class 8A first-round tussle Friday night at Streamwood.

“We just came out and played our defense,” said Bartlett defensive linemen Kyle Kirchoff. “We kept the run in check. Our defensive line didn’t have a good pass rush the last two games, but tonight we just fired off the ball.”

Kirchoff was in on two sacks, as Bartlett (10-0) forced Notre Dame (5-5) into nine offensive plays that went for negative yards and three turnovers.

Leading 3-0, Bartlett scored when Fabian Libreri plowed in on a one-yard touchdown run with 7:04 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Dons came right back as quarterback Eric Hennessey was 8-for-8 passing on a 71-yard drive, capped on a 24-yard touchdown pass to Pat Lazzara. Hennessey finished 15-for-17 with one interception for 107 yards.

Bartlett ran out the final 4:48 of the game to win its first opening round playoff game since 2004.

“We’re usually not in this position, since our offense puts points on the board,” said Bartlett linebacker Kyle Zelinsky, who had one of Hawk’s three interceptions. “But we took care of our part on the defense.”

Junior defensive end Anthony Jahns had two sacks for the Dons.