Schaumburg rallies to edge Elk Grove in thriller

ELK GROVE VILLAGE – As he brought his team home from a hard-fought season-opening win at Antioch last week, Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling had to think about how he would proceed for Friday’s Mid-Suburban home crossover versus Elk Grove.

The Saxons were without two of their key cogs on offense who were injured in the opening win - senior QB Lucas Wagener (upper body) and sophomore RB Vince Heydecker (ankle).

However, he had a pair of capable substitutes in junior Ray Black for Wagener and sophomore Jeff Alther for Heydecker.

Black was already in the offensive backfield, giving Wagener complete confidence that he could make a quick adjustment.

“He’s already in the offense so he knows most of it,” Wagener said in pre-game warmups. “So I just (try) to help him build up his confidence so he can go out there and play.”

That confidence fueled both Black and Alther as well as the rest of their teammates when they needed it most in the closing minutes as they rallied to post a 22-21 win at Gary Scholz Stadium thanks to Alther’s 11-yard TD jaunt followed by a successful two-point conversion run by Black.

That run was aided by an offsides call against the Grenadiers on the ensuing extra point try, which moved the ball to just outside the Elk Grove 1 with 90 seconds left.

The victory moves the Saxons to 2-0 on the season, giving them the program’s first such start since 2013.

“The momentum switches from one team to another and the momentum came to our side at the right time,” said Black, who combined for 122 yards of total offense in the win.

Schaumburg needed to rally from a 21-14 late deficit after the visitors (0-2) had rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit. The Saxons took the 14-0 lead on Alther’s 2-yard first period TD run and a 51-yard Black scoring strike to senior Javonte McCoy in the second.

Elk Grove got a 28-yard scoring jaunt from Darryl Hunt (14 carries, 75 yards) to pull within 14-7 in the third and got a pair of scores from Dylan Berkowitz in the final frame - a 1-yard scoring run plus a 25-yard TD catch from Danny Pasterski with 5:01 left.

The Grenadiers had a chance to clinch the victory after recovering an errant snap at the Schaumburg 16 with 4:53 left. But Dimitar Pandev’s 36-yard field goal try was blocked by McCoy and scooped by by senior Jimmy Frejd at the midfield stripe, setting the home team’s game-winning heroics.

Alther (19 carries, 73 yards) felt positive in his ability to score seven plays later.

“I was just thinking, give me the ball right there. I (found) a wide-open lane, went in, touchdown,” Alther said.

Black praised his offensive line plus Frejd, who served as an additional blocker in Black scoring the winning points.

“I knew I was getting in there. I just needed to catch the (snap) and focus on getting there. I just knew where Jimmy and all my linemen were,” Black said.

It would be another thank you to McCoy who picked off Pasterski (15-27, 199 yards) in the end zone with 7 seconds left as the Grens drove down to the Saxons’ 25 thanks to a 51-yard Pasterski-to-Hunt connection.

“I thought our resiliency was outstanding,” Stilling said. “We put ourselves in a position to show some character. This is a tough group. Our leadership was outstanding the entire game. I’m super proud of our guys.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240907/prep-football/schaumburg-wins-last-second-thriller-against-elk-grove/