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South Elgin debuts new field with rout
| Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media |
Updated: September 17, 2011 8:01PM
Rising to the occasion for the most anticipated day in program history wasn’t a problem for South Elgin’s football team Saturday.
Playing on its new on-campus home field for the first time, the Storm gave a jam-packed home crowd plenty to cheer about by posting a 33-0 shutout against Metea Valley.
A key turning point in the Upstate Eight Valley contest came in the first quarter when Mustangs quarterback Jarrett House injured his right knee on the final play of his team’s first possession. House was unable to return, and Metea Valley (3-1, 1-1) simply couldn’t keep up with South Elgin (2-2, 2-0) the rest of the way.
Storm quarterback Zach Gross ran for two touchdowns and passed for another as South Elgin dominated on both sides of the ball, finishing with a 345-155 advantage in total yardage.
“We played a great game today,” Gross said. “Our defense stopped them on every series. Our offense had our little bumps to start, but we came out and really put it to them.”
All signs pointed to a dogfight early on. South Elgin took the opening kickoff and marched down the field, but the Mustangs stuffed Storm tailback Adolfo Pacheco on fourth-and-goal at the 1 to force a turnover on downs.
Metea Valley quickly moved out of the shadow of its own goal line, advancing all the way to midfield. That’s where the drive stalled on back-to-back incomplete passes from House, the second of which came on fourth-and-14 and resulted in the senior twisting his knee while being hit as he stepped up in the pocket to throw.
The Storm took advantage of the short field as Gross took off five plays later for a 33-yard run that marked the first varsity touchdown on the new field with 57 seconds left in the first quarter. South Elgin pushed its lead to 17-0 by halftime with a 10-yard Pacheco touchdown run and a 28-yard field goal by David Reisner.
The Mustangs tried to hang tough in the second half, making another impressive defensive stand by turning the Storm away without points on another trip inside the 5-yard line early in the third quarter. But Metea Valley’s inability to move the ball with sophomore backup Peyton Mitchell under center proved too much to overcome.
“When you lose your starting quarterback the first series of the game it changes the whole equation, that’s for sure,” Metea Valley coach Ted Monken said. “We still didn’t play well enough to win. Defensively we had some nice stands, but offensively we kept putting (the defense) back on the field.
“We’re back to square one with our new quarterback. We’ve got to put the offense back together and make sure we’re doing things right, but it’s a frustrating day to say the least.”
Gross connected with Joe Crivolio for a 13-yard touchdown pass, Reisner booted a 32-yard field goal and Gross added a 15-yard touchdown scamper to complete the scoring for South Elgin.
Pacheco led the Storm’s formidable ground attack with 144 yards on 27 carries. Gross added 83 yards on 13 carries and completed 8-of-11 passes for 93 yards.
But it was South Elgin’s defense that stole the show. D.J. Greene recovered a fumble and Nathan Marotta had an interception in the second half for the Storm, which held Metea Valley’s dynamic rushing duo of Tre’Sean Mackey and Cameron Wilcox to a combined 46 yards on 17 carries.
“I know their quarterback went out, but I thought our defensive front controlled the line of scrimmage pretty well,” South Elgin coach Dale Schabert said. “Our D-linemen and our linebackers did a really nice job in there.”
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