Palatine pulls out hard-fought win over Evanston

PALATINE – Palatine junior quarterback Will Santiago did more than just throw the football effectively in the Pirates’ 25-19 defeat of visiting Evanston on Friday night.

He also ran some, punted some and even lined up in a slot position on the game-winning touchdown with 5:22 left in the fourth quarter.

His two punts were actually quick kicks, with the first pinning the Wildkits at their 1-yard line in the first quarter.

“Played some safety last year on JV,” he beamed, referring to the season he came down with a pick and a pick-6. “As for punting, I find the less I practice, the better.”

Palatine improved to 2-1 by striking for big plays on offense in the first half and bigger plays on defense in the final 24 minutes of the nonconference test that doubled as its homecomg game.

“We made the critical plays when we had to make them,” said Pirates coach Corey Olson, whose squad led 19-7 at the half, watched the visitors score 12 the next points to knot it at 19 and got a 2-yard TD run from junior wideout Kole Fager out of the Wildcat formation.

“That’s a real tough Evanston team, physical on both sides of the ball,” Olson added. “Dogfight all night. I’m proud of our guys, though I wish we had won prettier than we did.”

Gorgeous Play No. 1 by Palatine started with a Santiago screen pass to junior wideout Jordan Bostick, who exploded from his first step in what turned into a 64-yard TD that put the hosts up 12-0 at 6:35 of the second quarter.

“I saw nothing but red jerseys after catching the ball,” said the red-clad Bostick (three receptions, 98 yards). “Great toss by Will, who’s also a great guy.”

Santiago finished an efficient 11 for 13 for 166 yards --- 151 in the first half.

The Santiago-Bostick connection took off two years ago when the pair wore gear for Palatine’s freshman football crew.

“Post route,” Bostick recalled fondly with an end-zone wide smile. “Went for a 50-yard TD in the season opener.”

Evanston (1-2) opened its scoring Friday night in spectacular fashion, with senior Avon Teuer returning a kickoff 99 yards for a TD to cut the Pirates’ lead to 12-6 at 6:17 of the second quarter.

Pirates sophomore running back Ray Gaspard (12 carries, 45 yards) answered shortly thereafter via a 7-yard TD run ahead of an Alek Huyser extra point.

That made it 19-7, Palatine.

Defensive players coming up huge for Palatine included senior linebacker Trey Widlowski (several stops for little or no gain), senior lineman and Michigan recruit Jaylen Williams (sack, QB pressures), junior DL Jaylen Maiden (key QB pressure, late) and senior DL Anthony Fontanetta.

Pirates senior WR Ryan Donnelly caught three passes for 36 yards, including a nifty 20-yard snare in which the knuckles of his hands nearly the scraped the Chic Anderson Stadium’s turf in the first quarter.

Palatine senior running Jesse Blake rushed for a 1-yard TD burst to give Palatine a 6-0 lead on its second possession of the night.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240913/prep-football/palatine-pulls-out-hard-fought-win-over-evanston/