Palatine won the annual backyard battle with crosstown rival Fremd Friday 24-17 to remain atop the Mid Suburban West conference.
The Pirates (5-1, 2-0) overcame an early 10-0 deficit and 4 turnovers and then hung on at the end thanks to an interception by Brad Bauer to claim the victory before a crowd of 5,000 screaming fans.
“I thought it was great, playoff-like atmosphere here tonight,” Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly said. “We turned the ball over way too much tonight which was uncharacteristic of us. That has to be addressed.”
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Fremd took advantage of 2 of the Pirates' 4 turnovers to take an early lead. Andrew Stark nailed a 22-yard field goal and Sam Beutler had a 5-yard touchdown run as the Vikings (3-3, 1-1) led 10-0 early in the second quarter.
Palatine came storming back behind the running of John Serio and the passing of Ethan Olles. Serio had a 37-yard run that led to a 10-yard touchdown pass from Olles to Alex Nawrot. Olles then hooked up with Eric Theis on a 31-yard touchdown pass while Kevin Hilmer blasted a 40-yard field goal to give the Pirates a 17-10 lead at the half.
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Palatine extended that lead to 24-10 on Olles’ third touchdown pass of the night, an 18-yarder to Chaka Kelly with 3:53 left in the third quarter.
Fremd closed to 24-17 on a one-yard run by Jeff McGlade with 3:39 to play to cap a 10-play, 5-yard drive.
The Vikings had a final opportunity with just over a minute to play.
Fremd moved the ball down to the Palatine 21 thanks to a 29-yard pass from Beutler to Matt Konopka. But after two incomplete passes in the end zone, Bauer came up with his second interception of the evening to clinch the victory.
“I had taken a step too far back on the play tonight,” Bauer said. “But I got lucky and jumped it and it worked out well for me.”
Fremd coach Lou Sponsel was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We knew we had to capitalize on their mistakes,” Sponsel said. “We couldn’t quite get it all tonight. But I am proud of our kids. Our program is headed in the right direction.”
