Hawks running back plows over Panthers

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STREAMWOOD -- Oswego had a lead, but the Panthers just couldn't stop Bartlett senior Vinnie Libreri.

Last week, the Hawks relied heavily on its passing game and fell short of victory. On Friday night, they took to the ground against Oswego and, thanks to a huge night from Libreri, came out on top 33-22 at Streamwood's Millennium Field.

Libreri exploded for a whopping 202 yards rushing on only 16 carries. He showed off his speed with touchdown runs of 46 and 67 yards. If that was not enough, he also hauled in a 45-yard touchdown reception.

Offensively, the game was a tale of two halves for both teams. After a first half filled with penalties and punts, both teams headed into halftime scoreless. "We came out in the second half with the score 0-0 and just looked at it as a new game," said Libreri. "We didn't really make any big adjustments at half, we just went out and played our game."

Oswego (1-1) got the scoring started in the second half when fullback Matt Casula broke a 31-yard run with 8:52 left in the third quarter.

The momentum seemed to be with the Panthers after that as they forced a three-and-out on the Hawks' next possession. However, the Panthers fumbled the ensuing punt, and Bartlett's Eric Ruzalski dove on the loose ball. When the dust cleared, Bartlett (1-1) was left with the ball on the Panthers' 27. That set up a Joey Lehto 1-yard touchdown run that tied the score at 7.

Libreri took off from there, running for a score with less than a minute left in the third quarter and catching a Josh Hassenberg bomb on the Hawks' first possession of the fourth quarter. Those scores gave Bartlett control of the game.

Oswego trimmed the lead to 20-14, but Bartlett answered on its next possession when Hassenberg busted through from 1-yard out for another score.

A 50-yard interception return for a score by Steve Seemann rounded out the Bartlett scoring and put the game away.

"We're excited about the win tonight," said Bartlett coach Tom Meaney. "We were down about the loss last week but the kids went out and worked hard in practice and it paid off here tonight." Bartlett 33, Oswego 22