Maroons upend Sabres

STREAMWOOD -- In a game between two teams looking for a bright spot in otherwise dreary seasons, one highlight-reel play late in the third quarter was all it took for Elgin to come from behind and grab control in a 21-12 win over Upstate Eight Conference rival Streamwood on Saturday at Millennium Field.

Trailing 12-8 in the third quarter with the ball at Streamwood's 24-yard line, Elgin tailback Jordan Dean looked destined for a six-yard loss that would cripple what had been a promising Maroons drive.

Instead, Dean broke free from multiple would-be tacklers in the backfield and proceeded to take it 24 yards from scrimmage and into the end zone to put Elgin (3-5, 3-2) up 14-12 with 2:53 left in the quarter.

"When I run, I just try my best not to go down," said Dean, who totaled 106 yards on 25 carries. "I give credit to my line. They work hard.

"We came out cocky I guess you could say. We fell behind and got down on ourselves. Coach gave us a good speech at halftime, pumped us back up and we got the momentum back."

After Dean's big run, the fortunes for both teams seemed written in stone. Streamwood (1-7, 0-6) could no longer move the ball like it had in the first half and the Maroons' offense had been resurrected after its second-quarter lapse, when they gained just nine total yards.

Dean tallied his third score of the game on Elgin's next possession, rolling in from 18 yards out with another tackle-breaking TD run to put Elgin up 21-12 with 11:45 remaining in the contest.

Elgin capped off the win on Earl Holloway's interception of Streamwood quarterback Joey Hanover with 24 seconds left.

"I'm just proud of the way the kids came back more than anything else," Elgin coach Dave Bierman said. "They practice so hard and when you practice so hard you feel like you should have more than two wins. I'm just happy for them. It can be frustrating."

Streamwood's second-half stumble came after its first-half recovery from an 8-0 deficit.

The Sabres fumbled their opening play from scrimmage into the end zone for a safety and went down by eight when the Maroons finished off a 47-yard, 15-play drive on a Dean scoring run from one yard out with 2:45 left in the first quarter.

Streamwood got on the board with 7:14 left in the first half on a 29-yard run from Derrick King (11 carries, 85 yards) to make it 8-6 and headed back into Maroons territory on its next possession.

The Sabres failed to collect points on Dion Banda's 23-yard missed field-goal try, but with 24 seconds left in the half King and the Sabres wouldn't be denied again. The 205-pound senior took it in from five yards out to put the Sabres up 12-8.

With all the momentum, Streamwood opened the third quarter by taking the ball to midfield before King was picked off by Dean on a halfback pass.

"This game is about little things and making those opportunities count," Streamwood coach Cal Cummins said. "We couldn't make a couple of key opportunities count today, it's as simple as that."

The presumptive starter heading into the season, Hanover missed the first six games due to knee surgery. In his return behind center he showed some rust, throwing for 72 yards on 5-of-19 passing with an interception.

ELGIN 21, STREAMWOOD 12

Elgin               8   0   6   7   --   21

Streamwood   0  12  0   0   --   12

ELGIN - Safety, 8:58

ELGIN - Dean 1 run (kick failed), 2:45

SWOOD - King 29 run (pass failed), 7:14

SWOOD - King 5 run (pass failed), :24

ELGIN - Dean 24 run (run failed), 2:53

ELGIN - Dean 18 run (Satish kick), 11:45

Team statistics                  E              S

First downs                         10            13

Comp.-att-int.                  4-11-0     5-20-2

Passing yards                      27             72

Rushing-att-yds.              47-171      33-173

Total yards                        198            245

Fumbles-lost                     1-0              3-1

Penalties-yards                  6-70           2-16

Individual statistics

Rushing:

ELGIN -- Dean 25-106, Crosby 9-21, Meyer 9-29, McKenzie 1-4, Michalik 3-11.

STREAMWOOD -- King 11-85, Hanover 10-32, Morrow 9-44, Holloway 2-5, Ortiz 1-7.

Passing:

ELGIN -- Meyer 4-11-0 27.

STREAMWOOD -- Hanover 5-19-1 72, King 0-1-1 0.

Receiving:

ELGIN -- Newcombe 3-27, Walker 1-0.

STREAMWOOD - Pryor 2-61, Woods 1-8, Morrow 1-3, King 1-0.