It was a rough trip Friday night for Dunbar to get to 77th Street and Western Avenue.
First, a minor bus accident delayed the Mightymen’s arrival to St. Rita by 15 minutes. And then in the first quarter they were blindsided by the Mustangs.
St. Rita (7-3) took advantage of early Dunbar mistakes en route to a 17-0 first-quarter lead and then cruised to a 39-22 opening-round victory and end a two-game skid.
“We felt like the underdogs coming into this, especially after the last two losses,” said junior quarterback Mike Cummings, who threw three touchdowns and rushed for a fourth. “I can’t tell you how huge this win is for us.”
The Mustangs clearly came out revved up. After scoring first on a 22-yard Brian Passarello field goal, St. Rita recovered a Dunbar fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Five plays later, Cummings rushed from 10 yards out for a score.
A bad snap on a punt on the next possession by Dunbar (6-4) gave St. Rita the ball at the Mightymen 25. After a holding penalty, Cummings (8-for-14, 91 yards) dumped a 33-yard screen pass to Matt Wagner (20 rushes, 81 yards) for a score and a 17-0 lead with 1:38 remaining in the first. .
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Dunbar quarterback Leo Neloths (4-for-10, 203 yards) tossed three touchdown passes on the night, for 60 yards to Brandon Collins, 43 yards to Michael Phyfier and 64 to Reggie Lee. The toss to Phyfier cut the St. Rita lead to 27-14 with 3:30 left in the third.
But the Mustangs put the game away early in the fourth with Cummings connecting with Joe Tagler for an 11-yard score and sophomore Wade Weyer (10 carries, 106 yards) adding a 3-yard TD run.
— Phil English
Stagg 44, Simeon 18
On the night after Halloween, Stagg enjoyed a night of kicks as treats.
The host Chargers (8-2), in their first postseason appearance since 1991, took advantage of Simeon’s special teams for a victory in Palos Hills.
Stagg’s Mike Myers recovered a fumble on Simeon’s first attempt at a punt return and rumbled 36 yards for a touchdown. Teammate Dominique Barnes not only recovered a fumble off a botched punt return at the Simeon 5-yard line, but the senior running back returned a kickoff of his own for a 40-yard score.
“I was ready,” Barnes said. “Playoffs means it’s go-time. [On the punt return], I saw some holes, the guys made good blocks and I got it home.”
Quarterback Joe Ganz added runs of 10, 1 and 10 and Ricky Romeo kicked a 25-yard field goal and four extra points as Stagg built a 37-6 halftime lead, despite outgaining Simeon by only 44 yards (134-90).
Ganz connected with Mike Moritz (5 receptions, 97 yards) on a 38-yard TD pass to round out the scoring.
“We spend about one-third of our practices on special teams,” Stagg coach Tim McAlpin said. “And it helps to have such a playmaker in Dominique Barnes returning kicks.”
Steven Washington scored twice for Simeon (5-5) on runs of 14 and 3 and quarterback Vashon Winton hit Bryant Creamer for a 49-yard TD as the Wolverines were one of seven losing Public League teams Friday
— Johnny Rosenstein
Hubbard 78, Young 6: The No. 7 Greyhounds (10-0) demolished Young (5-5) as Carl Moore and Antoine Doby each ran for two touchdowns.
Libertyville 34, Belvidere 17: Chris Jansen was 10-of-15 passing for 197 yards and three touchdowns for the No. 17 Wildcats (9-1). Kevin Fontana’s 1-yard TD run put Libertyville up 20-17 in the third quarter.
Glenbrook North 35, St. Charles North 6: The Spartans (7-3) led 14-0 at half and 28-0 after three quarters as quarterback Kevin Kaspers accounted for 189 yards of offense and three touchdowns. Kevin Czerwinski returned a punt 85 yards to put St. Charles North (6-4) on the board with 3:03 remaining.
Hersey 34, St. Patrick 0: Mike Chernick ran for a touchdown and threw for another as the Huskies (7-3) rolled.
Lake Zurich 38, Mundelein 21: Chris Redding ran for two first-quarter touchdowns and added a third in the final quarter to help Lake Zurich (9-1) advance. Matt Drecoll hit Evan Rafferty with TD passes of 32 and 65 yards to lead Mundelein (6-4).
McHenry 42, Deerfield 17: Deerfield led 17-10 at half on the strength of a field goal and TD reception by Dan Waltz. But McHenry (9-1) stormed back in the second half as Jay Weston ran for his second touchdown and caught a 3-yard strike from Bob Glascott.
Billy Nardini sparked Deerfield (7-3) with 177 yards rushing, including an 80-yard, first-quarter TD run.
Oswego 26, Belleville West 7: Paul Salopek, Jeff Ziemnik and Jeff Davis each rushed for a touchdown for Oswego (9-1).
Pekin 31, Romeoville 28: Pekin (9-1) had a record-setting performance from Derrick Rademaker to eliminate Romeoville. Rademaker caught nine passes to up his career total to 207, breaking the state record of 199 formerly held by P.J. Fleck of Kaneland.
Matt Caffey rushed for two first-quarter TDs and 225 yards, but only 10 in the second half for Romeoville (6-4).
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Prospect 35, Glenbard West 14: Bryon Gattas scored three touchdowns, including runs of 4 and 15 yards in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the Knights (8-2). Prospect quarterback Jared Dall ran for 143 yards and threw for 203 and two TDs. Jeremiah Marks paced West (5-5) with a 21-yard, fourth-quarter TD run.