Ground game carries Palatine

Updated: October 6, 2011 10:19PM

Palatine was determined to control the clock and wear down the Fremd defense with its strong running attack when the two Mid-Suburban League West foes met in the Battle of Palatine Thursday night at Fremd.

The Pirates rushed for 285 yards as they cruised to a 28-7 victory, their first win at Fremd in 14 years.

“We knew if we just hit it for four quarters we could pull away with this one,” said Palatine’s Cam Kuksa, who ran for 167 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. “It’s nice because we can take five minutes away on offense and then they have to pass.”

The Pirates (6-1, 3-0) jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 3:56 left in the first after Kuksa faked a handoff and powered his way into the end zone from three yards out.

The Vikings (3-4, 1-2) would answer in the second quarter after a bad punt gave them the ball at the Palatine 25 yard line. Vikings’ quarterback Sam Beutler (7 of 14, 105 yards) took advantage of the short field on the very next play, tossing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Jyawook (five catches, 77 yards). The extra point tied the game at 7-7 with 7:07 remaining in the second quarter.

The Pirates retook the lead, marching 79 yards in 10 plays, capped by an 18-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Olles to Jesse Bobbit with just 3.2 ticks left before halftime. The extra point was no good keeping the Palatine lead at 13-7.

The Pirates held Fremd to a three-and-out to start the second half and then went on a 76-yard, 15-play drive, finished off by a three-yard score by Olles (eight carries for 47 yards, 8-for-13, 126 yards). Olles hooked up with Andrew Pecson for the two-point conversion and a 21-7 lead with 4:58 remaining in the third.

Palatine pushed the lead to 28-7 with 38.4 seconds left in the third as Kuksa broke loose for a 45-yard touchdown run.

“We just kept hammering the ball, the line kept blocking,” Olles said. “We kept executing what we needed to do and the defense got us the ball.”

The Pirates’ Dan Riddle came up with two key interceptions to end Fremd drives.

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