Saints overwhelm Sabres
STREAMWOOD -- St. Charles East displayed its full arsenal on offense against host Streamwood on Friday in an Upstate Eight Conference game.
The Saints rolled up 398 yards of total offense and in the process rolled over Streamwood 49-6 at Millennium Field.
Two St. Charles East running backs surpassed 100 yards on the ground, while another, Daniel White, piled up 89 yards rushing. White did, however, go over 100 yards in total offense after hauling in four passes for 53 yards and two scores.
In addition, 6-foot-5 quarterback Timothy Russell efficiently completed 9 of 12 passes for 104 yards, including three scores. On the other side of the ball, the stingy Saints defense allowed the Sabres (0-4, 0-2) only 33 yards of total offense -- the second straight week St. Charles East has held an opponent under 60 yards.
"We really wanted to make sure we were balanced tonight," East coach Ted Monken said. "We've been a little run-heavy the first few games. This gave us an opportunity to develop our quarterback, who is a first-year starter, and get the ball around a little bit."
St. Charles East (3-1, 2-0), which has won 14 straight games in the series dating to 1990, scored on six of seven possessions in the first half, coming away empty only once after a fumble deep inside Streamwood territory.
The Saints opened the game with a nine-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 14-yard TD run by Kyle Wiebe (9 rushes, 121 yards). After an intentional grounding call on Streamwood quarterback Noel Rivera foiled the Sabres' first drive, the Saints' Eian O'Brien returned a punt 63 yards to set up a 15-yard Russell-to-White connection for a 14-0 lead.
"Everything was kind of working for us," said White, who lined up at quarterback, tailback and receiver throughout the game, tallying three TDs. "Our offensive line was unbelievable. (Russell) is still learning, but he throws a good ball. He was our backup quarterback last year so he knows what he's doing."
East tacked on two more touchdowns in the second quarter before the Sabres broke through thanks in large part to two pass interference penalties, a facemask penalty and a personal foul on the Saints. The penalties amounted to 42 free yards for the Sabres, who took advantage when Rivera raced in from 6 yards out on fourth-and-goal. The extra-point attempt failed.
"The ability to take it down before (halftime) and punch one in helps us prove a little bit of a point to ourselves," Sabres coach Cal Cummins said. "I think for us we are at that point trying to build confidence."
The Saints, however, needed just 53 seconds to get the points back, going up 36-6 at halftime after Russell capped off a five-play, 68-yard scoring drive with a floating toss to White in the back of the end zone with no time on the clock.
East's Wes Allen (17 rushes, 159 yards) and Wiebe added second-half scores. Daniel Keller made all seven extra-point kicks.
Streamwood senior receiver Tem Esikiel left the game early in the second quarter after reaggravating an ankle injury and did not return. Rivera finished 2 of 15 passing for 26 yards, adding a team-high 23 yards rushing.
