OK, so Schaumburg didn’t post a shutout. And it did allow the longest touchdown drive of its season. But that was the extent of it.
Fourth-ranked Schaumburg stymied another opponent Saturday afternoon. This time it was rival Conant that fell victim to their hard-hitting defense, as the Saxons stayed unbeaten with a 31-14 Mid-Suburban West victory at Schaumburg.
The victory marked the second time in as many weeks Schaumburg (7-0, 3-0) topped an unbeaten conference foe, setting up a showdown against undefeated Hoffman Estates Saturday for likely the Mid-Suburban West championship.
As usual the Saxons were buoyed by their defense against Conant (3-4, 2-1), which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Schaumburg’s defense yielded seven points against the Cougars, only the 13th point it has yielded over the last four games.
“Every game we think shutout,” linebacker Dan Fitzharris said. “We pride ourselves on our defense. I think we stop the run pretty well.”
The Saxons held Conant to 104 yards of offense, 60 of which came on one drive when the Cougars scored to cut the lead to 21-14 on Jason Ortiz’s 7-yard pass to Joe Rizzo with 4:45 left in the third. They limited Conant’s leading rusher, Marc Dahlquist, to 37 yards in 17 carries, and ultimately knocked him out of the game with three minutes left in the third.
But most importantly Schaumburg forced three turnovers, two of which led to touchdowns. Following Steve Kolodziej’s 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Pat Skahan on Schaumburg’s first possession, Conant fumbled the ensuing play with John Sloan recovering on the Cougars’ 19. The next play Ryan Maher ran 19 yards up the middle to give the Saxons a 14-0 lead with less than five minutes gone in the game. Maher, who finished with 118 yards in 28 attempts, later scored on a 1-yard TD plunge with 25 seconds left in the game.
Conant cut the lead to 14-7 midway through the second quarter when David Francioni recovered a Maher fumble in the end zone. But as the half wound down, Eric VonSchaumburg intercepted his eighth pass of the season and returned it 21 yards to Conant’s 19. With 24 seconds left in the half, Kolodziej, who finished 11-of-22 for 153 yards, connected with Skahan again, this time for a 4-yard score, giving the Saxons a 21-7 advantage at the break.
In the third quarter, Mike Roark also recorded an interception, the Saxons’ 19th of the season.
“Turnover ratio is real big for us,” said Schaumburg coach Tom Cerasani, whose team also collected four sacks. “We have defensive pride.”
