Hawks' run one for U46 record books

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From cakewalk to nightmare to instant classic.

That's the way the night progressed for Bartlett on Saturday as its first-ever appearance in the state quarterfinals became one that the masses of chilled Hawks football fans in attendance will not soon forget.

Bartlett could seemingly do no wrong early on during its 38-35 Class 8A quarterfinal victory at Schaumburg.

The 28-0 lead the Hawks held at halftime hardly does justice to just how well Bartlett played through the first two quarters. Simply put, the Hawks had their way on offense and made things look easy on defense.

Then came the second half, and the Saxons took advantage of some shoddy special teams play by Bartlett to gain momentum. In what seemed like an instant, Schaumburg erased a 35-7 deficit to tie the score at 35 late in the fourth quarter.

"We came out fired up (to start the game) and we were stopping everything," Bartlett senior linebacker Kyle Zelinsky said. "At halftime, I'd definitely say we got a little cozy, and that's something we should never do. We'll never make that mistake again."

Luckily for Zelinsky and his teammates, they'll have a chance to prove they learned their lesson. Had the game gone to overtime, the prevailing sense seemed to be that the surging Saxons would make Bartlett pay for its lapses.

However, Hawks kicker Dan Karys saved the day with a 25-yard field goal with seven seconds left, and now Bartlett enters into the rarefied air that few teams from these parts ever breathe.

To put this latest milestone in a record-breaking season in perspective, the Hawks join the 1979 Larkin Royals as the only teams from Elgin School District U46 to ever reach the state semifinals. They also set a record for most wins in a single season by a U46 team by improving to 12-0.

Bartlett is the first Upstate Eight Conference team to reach the state semis since Lake Park accomplished the feat in 2003, and with a win next week against fellow unbeaten Maine South it can become the first UEC team to ever reach a state title game.

Those accomplishments aren't lost on the Hawks, but the mantra remains the same. For this group, there's only one accomplishment that will be truly satisfying.

"There's a first time for everything, so it's real cool," Zelinsky said of reaching the state semifinals for the first time in school history. "But we're still not satisfied until we win state."