Bartlett remains undefeated

Bartlett receiver Cory Brown (81) makes a reception over an Elgin defender.
(Tyler Stoffel/For the Courier News)

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STREAMWOOD -- Bartlett coach Tom Meaney had seen enough of Elgin quarterback Tom Roth and wide receiver Jamal Cook slicing and dicing his defense in Friday night's homecoming game at Millennium Field.

So at halftime, the Hawks made a big adjustment in their own offensive approach and tossed aside balance in favor of tight formations featuring the power-I and hard running of Fabian Libreri to pull away for a 49-22 victory.

"We wanted to take some time off the clock because they can score quickly," Meaney said. "We learned that last year.

"When you've got speed like that, and that 21 (Cook) is one of the best players around. And their quarterback is very elusive. We had our hands full. They're a solid team and we tried to shorten the game and not give up the big play."

Winless Elgin (0-6, 0-3) refused to become so much homecoming fodder for Bartlett (6-0, 4-0), but Libreri rushed for 129 of his 190 yards in the second half to help the Hawks finish the night as the only unbeaten team in the Upstate Eight Conference.

"Last week we had said the defense stepped up and took care of business," said Meaney, whose team is ranked fifth in the Class 8A state poll. "Tonight I had to give it to our offense. The were driving on every series. Fabian and Corleon (Richardson) and our fullbacks did a fine job, especially in the second half when we ran the ball a lot."

Elgin had used the big play to stay in the game early. Roth, who rushed for 70 yards on 12 attempts and completed 19 of 34 for 298 yards with one interception, broke off a 38-yard touchdown run up the middle with 6:52 left in the first quarter to match Bartlett's TD on its first drive, a 15-yard pass from Josh Hasenberg (12-for-22, 182 yards) to Cory Brown (6 catches, 103 yards).

Bartlett appeared poised to pull away after Libreri ran in a 6-yard TD, Richardson a 7-yard TD and Hasenberg then found Alex VanNess for a 13-yard TD pass with 3:03 left before halftime.

Down 28-7, Elgin's Cook caught a pass slanting across the middle and darted 68 yards for a TD three seconds before halftime to make it 28-14.

Elgin never got closer than 13 points, but hung around until Libreri scored his second TD on 6-yard run in the third quarter, Andrew Gorski plowed in on a 2-yard run with 2:37 left in the fourth quarter and Christopher Cruz broke off a 39-yard TD run in the final minute.

"The kids worked hard. We were right there and worked hard," said Elgin coach Dave Bierman after the Maroons fell to 0-6 for the first time since 1981. "Obviously they're a real good ball club.

"If we had cleaned up some of our mistakes -- penalties (9 for 73 yards) and turnovers (4) -- and the next thing you know maybe you're nipping a little closer."

Elgin turned the ball over in the red zone twice, including once when Cook lost a fumble while stretching out for a TD from the 1-yard line in the third quarter. Bartlett's Kyle Zelinsky recovered in the end zone for a back-breaking turnover.

"Being down 14 at halftime with the ball coming out in the second half, I didn't feel too bad," Bierman said. "Unfortunately we didn't get anything established that first drive but I'm proud of the effort the kids gave."

Roth threw a 19-yard TD pass to Tim Newcombe, then hit Alan Walker for a two-pointer to get Elgin within 35-22 with 6:47 left to play, but the ball control attack of Bartlett continued to pound away.

Bartlett had 266 yards rushing on 38 carries.