And then there was one.

That's all that's left of the area football contingent going into the second round of the state football playoffs after St. Edward, South Elgin, St. Charles East and Huntley all saw their seasons end last weekend.

St. Charles North is the only team still standing as it prepares to host Elk Grove in the Class 7A playoffs at 7 p.m. on Friday.

For St. Edward and South Elgin, the quick postseason exits brought an end to the area's two biggest feel-good stories from the gridiron this fall.

The Green Wave reached its main goal for the season by reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Advancing to the second round for the first time in school history proved too much to ask, though, as St. Edward lost at Mendota 27-13 on Saturday to end the year with a 6-4 mark.

While the disappointment of defeat likely still lingers for the Wave's players, they can hold their heads high after becoming the first St. Edward team since 1994 to finish with a winning record.

South Elgin's players also have plenty to be proud about after ushering their young program into the upper echelon of the Upstate Eight Conference with a 7-3 season and the first playoff appearance in school history.

The Storm won five games thanks to second-half comebacks this year, but a sixth wasn't in the cards as St. Charles North avenged a Week 8 loss to South Elgin with a 28-16 win at Millennium Field on Saturday.

After the defeat, Storm coach Dale Schabert said his program plans to make trips to the postseason a regular occurrence. Judging from the personnel he has to work with going forward, it shouldn't be a problem for South Elgin to live up to those expectations next year.

The Storm will welcome back a junior class that played a big part in lifting the program to new heights this fall. Quarterback John Menken, receiver Domico Failla and running back Bradley Birchfield are among the many talented contributors in the group, which has known nothing but success since coming into high school.

The juniors will only be bolstered by the arrival of a sophomore class that went 8-1 this fall at the sophomore level.

"There's some talent here," Schabert said. "The cupboard is not empty and we've got some kids coming along."

St. Edward is in much the same situation. The Wave will miss a number of key seniors who helped get the program back to respectability, but this year's junior class is more than ready to lead the program to back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time.

Among the key returnees will be quarterback Ben Lehman, receiver Sam Pozezinski and safety Nick Scholly. Plenty of reinforcements are also on the way from a sophomore team that enjoyed a 9-0 record this year.

While next year looks bright for St. Edward and South Elgin, the immediate future is the primary concern for St. Charles North.

The North Stars shook off overtime losses in the final two weeks of the regular season to knock off the Storm for the fourth time in five meetings between the schools. According to junior quarterback Jake Bergren, the tough defeats in Week 8 and Week 9 may have helped the team regain its focus.

"It's one of those things where you don't know what you've got until you don't have it anymore," Bergren said. "To lose a couple and then come into (the playoffs), it's a whole different mind set."

For North, the triumph marked only the second postseason win in nine tries for a program that throughout its history hasn't seen consistent regular-season success translate into postseason advancement.

"This was great to get off that one number," North coach Mark Gould said of picking up career playoff win No. 2. "Couple that with the way things have gone the last two weeks with the two overtime games, it makes it feel especially good."

Now the North Stars have a home game against Elk Grove and a chance to go where no team in school history has gone: the state football quarterfinals.

MENDOTA — Armed only with a defense and passing attack, St. Edward hung tough as long as possible against Mendota in Saturday's Class 4A state playoff game.

Then the Green Wave's fading chances for the school's first postseason football victory completely vanished when running back Kurtis Knapp broke a counter off right tackle for a clinching 60-yard fourth-quarter touchdown in Mendota's 27-13 victory.

"I thought our defense did a great job to keep us in a one-point game in the first half with all the situations we put them in," Green Wave coach Mike Rolando said. "We really couldn't have played any worse in the first half.

"We got put into a must-pass situation and got taken out of our game there. Then their running game really got some traction there in the second half and busted a couple big plays. But our defense played great."

St. Edward (6-4) trailed just 14-13 at halftime after Ben Lehman capped off a perfect two-minute drill with a 3-yard TD pass to Sam Pozezinski in the back of the end zone, but the extra point proved an omen for the second half when Jim Cholewa's boot barely got head high.

"Too many bad breaks in bad situations," Rolando said. "The missed extra point hurt. Anything that could go wrong — a blown pass coverage — went wrong for us and we were just fortunate to be in that game in the second half.

"Then their big guys really took over in the second half."

Mendota rushed for 139 of its 201 yards in the second half, including Knapp's 20-yard TD on a counter play right only four seconds into the fourth quarter that provided a 21-13 edge. Knapp finished with 123 yards on 19 carries, including three TDs.

The Trojans defense fiercely protected that eight-point advantage until Knapp broke a run on a play similar to his 20-yarder, behind the block of 6-foot-5, 285-pound tackle Nick Green for the 60-yard TD that iced the win with 3:12 left in the game.

"He's a big dude," St. Edward senior linebacker Nathan Gaige said about Green. "And (Knapp) was a hard runner who didn't go down easy. None of them did.

"They were a very good team. I think we bottled it up pretty good except for a couple plays when (Knapp) got through."

St. Edward's defense gave up one score which irked Rolando and actually helped account for the winning points. Down 7-6 after St. Edward's David Hoebbel caught a 46-yard TD pass from Lehman and Cholewa made the conversion kick, Mendota went to a rare pass on first down from its own 23.

Travis Martinson got behind Pozezinski downfield and caught a high-arcing pass from quarterback Jordan Fritz, then ran to the end zone for a 77-yard score. The two-point conversion run by Knapp provided the decisive points and a 14-7 lead.

"They threw up a floater, kind of a wounded duck that we blew the coverage on," Rolando said. "The guy kind of waited on it, it was almost like catching a punt, and he ran it in."

A surprise play had set up Mendota's first score. Martinson caught a 44-yard pass on a fake punt on Mendota's first possession, leading to Knapp's 1-yard, third-and-goal TD plunge.

St. Edward had its passing game to counter with, but not much else as Mendota's defense held the Green Wave to 25 rushing yards on 25 attempts.

"It's always tough going through a season where we had such a balance of running and passing and they came in and were ready for the run," Lehman said. "They had some good coverage on the passes, so it was tough to get some points on the board today."

Lehman finished 15 of 26 for 184 yards, including 10 for 109 yards to 6-foot-7 senior Zack Von Ahnen. But without a running attack to worry about, Mendota (8-2) came after Lehman and held him to 68 yards throwing in the second half.

Without starting offensive linemen Derek Porto and Zach Trisilla due to injuries, the Green Wave (6-4) had trouble protecting Lehman once Mendota went up eight points.

"We played a great season," Lehman said. "We came in here, nobody expected us to win six games and make the playoffs. It's tough now, but we had a great season with lots to be proud of."

St. Edward was making its first playoff appearance since 2003. The Green Wave is 0-3 in program postseason history.

"We did take another step, and it was good getting these juniors out here on the field, these sophomores, too, so they know what playoff football is about," Rolando said.

MENDOTA 27, ST. EDWARD 13

St. Edward    0   13   0    0   --   13

Mendota        6    8    0   13  --   27

M -- Kurtis Knapp 1 run (pass failed) 7:39, 1st

S -- David Hoebbel 46 pass from Ben Lehman (Jim Cholewa kick) 7:39, 2nd

M -- Travis Martinson 77 pass from Jordan Fritz (Knapp run) 2:05, 2nd

S -- Sam Pozezinski 3 pass from Lehman (kick failed) :02, 2nd

M -- Knapp 20 run (Fritz kick) 11:56, 4th

M -- Knapp 60 run (kick failed) 3:12, 4th

                                         S               M

First downs                      13               12

Rushing-yards                25-25         44-201

Passing                         16-27-1        3-5-0

Passing yards                  199              127

Total yards                      224              328

Fumbles-lost                    2-1              1-1

Penalties                         4-40             1-4

Punts                             5-37.6          3-31.3

Individual statistics

Rushing

St. Edward: Jordan Torres 7-8, Hoebbel 11-46, Jon Godfrey 1-2, Lehman 6-(minus)31.

Mendota: Knapp 19-123, Alex Caruso 13-52, Martinson 4-(minus)2, Robert Watson 7-21, Fritz 1-7.

Passing

St. Edward: Lehman 15-26-1-184, Pozezinski 1-1-0-15.

Mendota: Fritz 2-4-0-83, Knapp 1-1-0-44.

Receiving

St. Edward: Zack Von Ahnen 10-109, Pozezinski 3-32, Hoebbel 3-58.

MENDOTA -At first glance, several big plays by Mendota beat St. Edward in Saturday's Class 4A playoff matchup. But Green Wave coach Mike Rolando was more concerned about the little things: penalties, missed assignments and blown coverages that contributed to Mendota's 27-13 win at Doenier Field in Mendota.

"We get a 3-and-out to start the game and then we don't cover a guy," he said. "We get another 3-and-out and we rough the kicker. There were just too many bad breaks and bad situations," Rolando said. "A missed extra point hurts, just about anything that can go wrong - a blown coverage - went wrong for us. We were really fortunate just to be in that game in the second half."

Despite the mistakes, the Green Wave trailed only 14-13 at halftime. The Wave defense generally held the Trojans in check, with several notable exceptions.

A fake punt on the Trojans' first possession led to their first touchdown. They later scored on a 77-yard pass and a pair of long runs. Kurtis Knapp finished with 120 yards and 3 scores for No. 5 seed Mendota (8-2), who will play at No. 13 Morris in the second round.

"I thought the defense did a great job to keep us in a 1-point game in the first half with all the situations we put them in," said Rolando. "We really couldn't have played any worse and we were still in a 1-point game."

St. Edward quarterback Ben Lehman completed 15 of 27 for 185 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown to David Hoebbel to put the Wave ahead in the second quarter, and a 3-yarder to Sam Pozezinski following a masterful hurryup drill. Zack Von Ahnen had 10 catches for 117 yards.

But Lehman threw for just 52 yards in the second half as the Trojans were able to consistently put pressure on him. With the Wave missing 2 starting linemen, center Zach Trisilla and left guard Derek Porto, the Trojans sacked Lehman 4 times and forced him into some hurried throws.

The Trojans shut down the Wave running game, holding St. Edward to 25 yards on 25 carries.

"It's always tough after going through a season where we had a completely balanced offense, and then we come in and they were really ready for the run and had great coverage on the passing, so it's tough to get it done," said Lehman.

Still, it was tough for the 12th-seeded Green Wave to be too disappointed after just the third playoff appearance in school history. Although the Wave failed to win its first-ever playoff game, it finished 6-4 just 3 years after an 0-9 season.

"It's tough now, but we had a great season," said Lehman.

After the fake punt resulted in a 33-yard pass from Knapp to Travis Martinson, Knapp finished off the drive with a 1-yard run for a 6-0 Mendota lead.

The Wave answered with Lehman's strike to Hoebbel, one play after Von Ahnen recovered a fumble.

The Trojans came right back, with Jordan Fritz hitting Martinson for a 77-yard touchdown with 2:03 to go before halftime.

The Wave might have been content to run out the clock, but instead Lehman led 67-yard drive, finally hitting Pozezinski in the end zone with 3 seconds left in the half.

However, the Wave couldn't generate much offensively in the second half. Mendota finally broke the game open with 20 and 60-yard runs by Knapp in the fourth quarter. The last, off a counter play, came with 3:12 left and sealed St. Edward's fate.

That's because for all the pride there is in athletics on the corner of Elm and Locust streets in Elgin, there hasn't been a whole lot of success on the football field named for Greg True over the years. Let's face it, 12 winning seasons in 65 years of varsity football and a .333 all-time winning percentage does not qualify one for juggernaut status. Heck, only one time in those 65 years has the program had an unbeaten season, that when the Green Wave went 6-0-1 under True in 1960, long before the IHSA sponsored football playoffs. What some feel was St. Edward's best team ever, the 8-1 Tim McVey bunch of 1978 didn't even make the playoffs because in 1978 there were five classes and you had to be more than just good to get into the postseason.

Neither of the Green Wave's two playoff teams, not John Pergi's in 1983 nor Rich Sanders' 20 years later, won their first-round playoff games.

No, football and St. Edward are not two things commonly confused with equaling success.

But Mike Rolando is leading the charge to change all that.

Now in his fifth season as St. Edward's head coach, the 1991 Larkin graduate has resurrected a program that has not had an above .500 season since Jim Hoffman went 5-4 in 1994, long before the IHSA invited 5-4 teams to the postseason party unless they won a conference championship. Sanders' 2003 team finished 5-5.

Enter the 2009 Green Wave, a solid 6-3 team that will travel to Mendota Saturday afternoon for the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. From 0-9, 0-9, 1-8 and 4-5 to 6-3 and a playoff berth in five years. Hey, Rome wasn't built in a day, right?

"It's uncharted territory for us," Rolando said earlier this week. "It's a pretty cool time. The boys are excited for the opportunity to do something special. It's been a great season but now we're excited for the opportunity in front of us. Once we got on the practice field this week it was business as usual. We're going against an unknown. After being on Cloud 9 and getting that sixth win and that being so special, now we've shifted back and we're working hard."

But, boy, that sixth win sure didn't come easy. After a 5-1 start, the Wave needed just one win its final 3 games - all home games -to etch its place in the 256-team playoff field. First up was Aurora Christian. Tough 23-18 loss. Then Marian Central came to town. Ouch, a 48-7 whoopin'.

"Aurora Christian was just a tough game but then we came out flat against Marian and we weren't expecting that," said Rolando, who led the 1990 Larkin team to a state quarterfinal appearance before the Royals lost 49-42 to East St. Louis in one of the best high school football games ever played in Elgin.

"We just didn't show up to play and that was discouraging," Rolando said of the Marian Central loss. "It put our backs against the wall. But the kids knew if they didn't back down we could beat Wheaton Academy."

They had to. With a paltry 30 playoff points heading into Week 9, everyone in Green Wave Nation knew they weren't goin' dancin' at 5-4.

And with a little over 2 minutes to go in that Week 9 game last Friday, they were getting ready to ring the bell. But wait. Wheaton Academy erased a 12-point St. Edward lead quicker than you could yell "Playoffs!!!" and suddenly, with less than 30 seconds to play, the game was tied and St. Edward's postseason was in jeopardy. Then, boom, senior David Hoebbel ran back a kick 79 yards for a touchdown, the final seconds ticked away and the party was on.

"In the huddle before the kickoff we talked about making something happen," Hoebbel said this week. "We knew time was running out and we wanted to make something happen. We got more than we thought. There was relief and it felt good."

Worried? Who was worried?

"I had full confidence we were going to pull it out," said senior lineman Shane Finnane, who has been a varsity player for four years. "We wanted it real bad."

Rolando, who played his college football at Valparaiso, points to two key plays before Hoebbel's TD as being equally as important in the biggest win at Greg True in, well, a long time.

"Luckily our special teams came up big and blocked two extra points," he said. "It was quite the roller coaster game. The kids' backs were against the wall and they responded."

Finnane more than any single player can remember well when things weren't so exciting around St. Edward.

"It's been four tough years," he said. "The 0-9s, getting beat up. But then we stepped it up last year and this year has been amazing. We've never gone to the playoffs. It felt good to be on the field (this week)."

What's behind the evolution of the program is no question to the 6-foot, 240-pound Finnane, who would love to play college football at Indiana or Colorado.

"The first thing is the coaching," he said. "They've been with this senior class since we were in seventh grade. They know us. They've taught us how to be football players and how to be men. The most important thing they've taught us is heart. No matter how you play, just bring the heart."

Rolando, who has also taken the St. Edward softball program to new heights the last two years, has no intention of this being a one-year thing. The Green Wave's sophomore team was 9-0 this season, and the Crusader feeder teams claimed Super Bowl championships at the middleweight and heavyweight levels last weekend.

"This is not just a flash in the pan," Rolando declared. "We played solid football last year, we added a nice junior class this year and we did more offensively. But it's not just one great class. We only brought one sophomore (Evan Finnane) up this year and our sophomores went 9-0. We've got some good freshmen, and the Crusaders won two Super Bowls. We want to sustain this and do it right away."

Rolando is also rightfully proud of the way St. Edward has rebuilt. The program earned the Suburban Christian Gold sportsmanship award this season, something Rolando says tells him that he, his staff and the St. Edward community are doing things the right way.

"We are doing it right and we're doing it with respect," he said. "The other schools and their fans appreciate the way our kids play and the way our fans and student body act. We focus on academics. Our players have mandatory study halls and we give them college exposure. When you build a program that way and sustain it, winning becomes a byproduct and kids want to come play for you."

And win or lose on Saturday or whenever in this postseason, something tells us St. Edward is going to be an easier name to find on the IHSA's football Web site in years to come.

jradtke@dailyherald.com

For St. Edward seniors Shane Finnane and Nathan Gaige, a long varsity football odyssey reaches uncharted territory this weekend.

No two players represent the Green Wave's progression from woebegone program to playoff qualifier more than Finnane and Gaige, who have been through every step of the transition the past four years as varsity starters.

As freshmen, the duo was part of a 2006 team that hardly stood a chance from week to week while finishing 0-9. They helped St. Edward break through and end its 26-game losing streak as sophomores and played a part in leading the Wave toward respectability with a 4-5 finish as juniors.

Now comes the climax of the journey as Finnane and Gaige lead St. Edward into its first postseason game since 2003 on Saturday at Mendota in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs.

"Going 0-9 my freshman year, then 1-8 and then 4-5, I feel like I've been through the whole progression," Finnane said. "Ending my senior year like this is definitely a great thing to do."

The contributions of Finnane and Gaige have been enormous this season as St. Edward matched its highest win total since 1992 with a 6-3 regular season.

The 6-foot, 240-pound Finnane leads the defense with 91 tackles to go along with two sacks. In addition to his middle linebacker duties, he's also helped the Wave offense rack up 236.9 rushing yards per game with his play at left tackle.

Meanwhile, Gaige is second to Finnane with 87 tackles. The 5-11, 205-pounder is also tied for the team lead with three interceptions and two fumble recoveries in his fourth season at outside linebacker.

"(Gaige) is just a great athlete, his motor is always going and he practices hard," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "(Finnane) is the strongest kid in the program. For a high school boy, he's got a work ethic like no other."

Rolando is the reason Finnane and Gaige decided to attend St. Edward in the first place. He coached the duo to a championship in 2004 when Finnane and Gaige were seventh-graders with the Crusaders youth football team.

The following year Rolando took over at St. Edward. When it came time for Finnane and Gaige to enroll in high school, the opportunity to play for their former coach outweighed the prospect of enduring a rebuilding project with the Green Wave.

"This group of seniors right now, a couple of us played with these coaches since seventh grade," Finnane said. "They've been like another set of parents for us. They brought us up and made us who we are today.

"(Rolando) is the reason we came to St. Ed. We knew he could turn the program around as fast as he did."

Finnane is in his fourth season as a two-way starter, and Gaige started both ways the previous three years before focusing more on his linebacker duties this fall.

While that service is impressive, it's not exactly ideal to have players three and four years younger than most opponents never leave the field.

Yet that's the reality St. Edward faced when Rolando took over a program that was left in shambles following former coach Rich Sanders' abrupt departure a month before the 2005 season.

"I knew when coach Ro needed guys like me and Shane to play on varsity as freshmen that we weren't going to be that good," Gaige said. "But I knew we were just growing as a program."

That growth is evident now as the Green Wave counts only one sophomore as a regular varsity starter. St. Edward could barely field a sophomore team when Finnane and Gaige arrived, but this year the Wave fielded a full sophomore squad that rolled to a 9-0 record.

"Back in Shane and Nathan's day they were two-way starters as freshmen, but those days are kind of over," Rolando said. "We've got a sustained program where juniors and seniors play varsity with maybe an exceptional sophomore here and there. But for the most part we want to have juniors and seniors on the field."

And therein lies what may be the most lasting legacy Finnane and Gaige will leave behind at St. Edward.

While both players have aspirations to play in college -- Finnane is drawing considerable interest from Army while Gaige has been in contact with NAIA Quincy University -- their sacrifices and hard work have helped create an even brighter future for Green Wave football.

"We don't want to look at this good year as a flash in the pan," Rolando said. "We want to sustain this for the long run."

St. Edward's first postseason bid in six seasons

ELGIN – St. Edward's postseason-clinching sixth win of the season bordered on the surreal on Friday night at a muddy Greg True Field.

After seeing a double-digit lead slip through its grasp in the final two and a half minutes, the Green Wave needed a blocked extra point try and 79-yard kickoff return touchdown to finally knock off Wheaton Academy 34-28, securing the sixth win that had been eluding it the last two weeks and giving the school its first playoff berth since 2003.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward's Jon Keokanlaya (36) and (51) Glenn Fortune (51) lead their fellow teammates in celebration after their victory over Wheaton Academy Friday night in Elgin.
(Dave Shields/For The Courier-News)

With 33.1 seconds on the clock and the score knotted at 28, Jack Cholewa blocked Wheaton Academy's ensuing PAT try to keep St. Edward from falling behind. The Warriors kickoff then sailed out of bounds, giving the Green Wave (6-3, 3-2 Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division) the opportunity to take the ball from the 35.

Instead, the coaching staff declined the penalty and had Wheaton Academy (5-4, 3-2) re-kick.

"We saw a lot of clean jerseys on their kickoff team," coach Mike Rolando said. "Worst-case scenario, they onside kick it, we recover it on hopefully a short field or they kick it deep and something good can happen. I asked (special teams) coach (Mike) Childers which way we were going and he said, 'Left. There's a lot of clean jerseys over there.' "

Childers' instincts paid off.

David Hoebbel took the return 79 yards on a criss-crossing run that put the Green Wave ahead 34-28 with 15.7 seconds left.

"We worked so hard," said Hoebbel, who ran for 89 yards on 14 carries. "I had confidence in all of my teammates when we started that play. Coach called a return to the left. I knew as soon as I touched the ball that I was going to score a touchdown."

After a missed extra point try, St. Edward kicked off and three plays later, Nathan Gaige came away with an interception to seal the heart-stopping victory. The turnover was Wheaton Academy's only of the night. St. Edward turned the ball over four times.

"As soon as Nathan caught that ball I went straight into tears," senior lineman Shane Finnane said. "It's been four really, really long years. I've worked hard. Seven in the morning every day in the weight room, just trying to make me and my team better. It finally paid off."

The heavy drama began to unfold just two minutes after Jordan Torres (19 carries, 134 yards) galloped into the end zone to put St. Edward up 28-16. A Wheaton Academy TD reception less than a minute later might have put a little doubt into the final result but a Torres fumble with 1:24 remaining definitely did.

The Warriors completed their miraculous comeback with 33.1 seconds remaining, when Academy's Brian Pell hit Anthony Ritchie for the score to tie the game at 28.

"Anything that could happen on a football field seemed like it was going to happen there," Rolando said. "I think I already forgot the whole first half already. The second half was so stressful. The seniors, the boys, all the players, stepped up and got it done when they had to.

"They never quit. We talked about playing with enthusiasm instead of emotion, because emotion, you can get down when something bad happens. Enthusiasm, you stay up, it's always positive."

With the extra point looming, the Green Wave faithful was in a hysterical panic. But with brutal field conditions crippling both sides' special teams units, the Green Wave kept the score all square at 28. Jack Cholewa became the second St. Edward player of the night to block an extra point.

"It was huge," Rolando said of the block. "(If it's good), then you're in desperation."

What led to the frenzied finish seems pedestrian by comparison. After a Jim Cholewa 35-yard field goal and a 50-yard Torres run, St. Edward led 9-0 with 3:47 left in the first.

A Sam Pozezinski fumble on a punt late in the quarter set up the first of Pell's four touchdown passes, with St. Edward's lead trimmed to 9-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Wheaton Academy capitalized off another St. Edward turnover late in the second, as a Ben Lehman pick led to a Warriors field goal that gave them a 10-9 halftime lead.

St. Edward went ahead 15-10 on its opening drive off the third on a 5-yard Hoebbel run but fell behind again 16-15 with 1:48 left in the quarter.

In what was the biggest play of the game up until that point, the Green Wave went back up with 6:17 left when a newly gloved Zach Von Ahnen made a quick catch up the middle, rambling 69 yards to put St. Edward up 21-16.

"He (went to the sideline and) put his gloves on," Rolando laughed. "I'm like, 'Nothing like giving it away.' We had been pounding the ball. First (Wheaton Academy) is bringing six and then they're bringing eight, then 10. As long as he wasn't getting jammed at the line, we were pretty sure he was going to be open."

Torres' TD run with 2:32 left put the Wave up 28-16, prompting what turned out to be some premature celebrations.

St. Edward was penalized seven times for 55 yards.

ST. EDWARD 34, WHEATON ACADEMY 28

Wheaton Academy       7    3    6    12   --  28

St. Edward                   9    0    6    19   --  34

STED – FG Cholewa 35, 5:11

STED – Torres 50 run (kick failed), 3:47

WA – Libby 30 pass from Pell (Cote kick), 1:07

WA – FG Cote 25, 1:22

STED – Hoebbel 5 run (run failed), 9:14

WA – Johnson 4 pass from Pell (pass failed), 1:48

STED – Von Ahnen 69 pass from Lehman (run failed), 6:17

STED – Torres 15 run (Cholewa kick), 2:32

WA – Ritchie 32 pass from Pell (kick blocked), 1:42

WA – Ritchie 5 pass from Pell (kick blocked), :33

STED – Hoebbel 79 kickoff return (kick failed), :15

Team statistics            WA        STED

First downs                     11            10

Comp.-att-int.              11-25-1     2-5-2

Passing yards                 187            88

Rushing-att-yds.            29-70       39-248

Total yards                     257           336

Fumbles-lost                   0-0           4-2

Penalties-yards               5-43         7-55

Individual statistics

Rushing

WHEATON ACADEMY — Pell 17-34, Libby 10-38, Cote 2-(minus)2.

ST. EDWARD — Torres 19-134, Hoebbel 14-89, Lehman 5-23, Godfrey 1-2.

Passing

WHEATON ACADEMY — Pell 11-25-1 187.

ST. EDWARD — Lehman 2-5-2 88.

Receiving

WHEATON ACADEMY — Ritchie 7-135, Johnson 2-12, Libby 2-40.

ST. EDWARD – Von Ahnen 1-69, Hoebbel 1-19.

With one week left in the high school football season, the area's playoff picture is pretty clear.

St. Charles East, South Elgin and St. Charles North have already clinched spots in the postseason with six wins.

Larkin and St. Edward are playoff eligible with five wins, but it appears both teams must earn victories in Week 9 to keep their respective seasons alive.

At 4-4, Huntley and Genoa-Kingston are also on the playoff bubble. Both teams must win next week and hope they've accumulated enough playoff points to qualify for the postseason. At first glance it appears the Red Raiders can get in with five wins while the Cogs face longer odds due to a weaker schedule.

In the two biggest developments of the weekend, St. Charles East clinched at least a share of the Upstate Eight Conference title by beating Neuqua Valley and South Elgin continued to impress with a thrilling overtime win against St. Charles North.

The Saints have now won six in a row and can claim the UEC title outright by beating the rival North Stars next week at Norris Stadium. East is getting the job done with the best defense in the area, which is allowing just under seven points per game in conference action.

The Storm showed once again that its defense isn't too shabby either in a 10-7 overtime triumph against North at Millennium Field.

The victory clinched South Elgin's first-ever trip to the playoffs, but with the toughest schedule in the area this year the Storm was virtually guaranteed a postseason spot with only five wins.

Nonetheless, beating the talented North Stars was significant as South Elgin no doubt improved its seed for the upcoming Class 7A playoffs and also moved a step closer to garnering a home game in the first round of the postseason.

"I tried to explain to the kids that 5-4 with 50-plus playoff points is no big deal," South Elgin coach Dale Schabert said. "This (win) gets us at a point where it changes the group we're going to play in the first round.

"If we get one more it really makes a difference. It would give us a chance at a home game and it would be really good to come and pack this place. Our student body has been fantastic."

All year long I'd pegged the North Stars as the area's best team, but I might have to reassess that evaluation now.

The Storm's defense held North to a season-low for points and came up with a huge stop near the goal line early in the fourth quarter, keeping the deficit at 7-0.

Two plays later the South Elgin offense finally broke through when junior quarterback John Menken connected with junior receiver Domico Failla for an 80-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline to tie the score at 7.

"We had all the momentum and we were trying to score because our defense was playing amazing," Failla said. "They were relentless and they just kept making plays for us, so we knew we had to come back and make a play for them."

For the North Stars it was a bitter defeat that cost the team a shot at the UEC title. But there won't be much time to dwell on the disappointment with the rival Saints up next and the program's eighth straight trip to the playoffs to follow.

"This shows what kind of character you have," North coach Mark Gould said. "You've got to put it back together and play your rival next week. You can't feel sorry for yourself. You've got to go back to work."

Now it's time for a quick look back at Week 8 and a glance ahead to what is shaping up to be an exciting Week 9.

The Storm's overtime win against North speaks for itself. Meanwhile, the Whip-Purs showed a lot of heart with their 12-9 overtime win against rival Burlington Central. The victory knocked the Rockets out of the playoff hunt and marked the first time in 30 years that Hampshire beat Central in back-to-back seasons.

St. Charles North at St. Charles East, 7:30 p.m. on Friday -- The Saints can claim the UEC title outright with a win. A home playoff game in the first round of the postseason is also at stake for the winner as East looks to build on its 5-4 all-time series lead against its fiercest rival.

Wheaton Academy at St. Edward, 7 p.m. on Friday -- Both teams will need a win to clinch a trip to the postseason. Losers of two straight, the Wave will try once again to get off the five-win mark and move to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

ELGIN -- This was no time to gnash teeth and rehash mistakes.

St. Edward had just been blown out Friday night in non-conference play 48-7 by Marian Central at Greg True Field, and the Green Wave had more to worry about than giving up one big Hurricanes play after another.

"We wanted to be in a playoff situation," coach Mike Rolando said. "It's win or go home next Friday.

"Five wins and we go home."

In essence, the playoffs have come early for the Green Wave by one week because it knows that with a 5-4 record its season is almost assuredly complete due to a lack of playoff points. If it beats visiting Wheaton Academy next Friday, St. Edward will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

"I know our team has got heart," wide receiver Zack Von Ahnen said. "It may not have looked like it tonight, but we'll get the sixth."

No. 6 didn't just elude them Friday -- it was never within reach after Marian Central quarterback Ben Krol went play-action on the Hurricanes' first play from scrimmage and threw a bomb down the middle of the field to a wide-open Andrew Stone for a 57-yard touchdown pass.

The scoring occurred at a rapid pace thereafter, until a running clock started 1:11 into the second half after Jared Koch broke off a 67-yard touchdown run for a 41-0 lead.

"That's a good team, but we're not this bad of a team," Rolando said. "High school teams aren't that far apart in talent. You have to show up and play. We'll try to do it again next week."

Marian (6-2) got 104 yards on 12 carries and touchdown runs of 2 and 41 yards from Corey Cavitt in gaining 170 rushing yards as a team. Krol threw for 109 yards, including a 13-yard TD pass to Koch just before halftime.

It wasn't so much the offensive scores that destroyed St. Edward as it was the big defensive plays. St. Edward (5-3), committed four turnovers, including two for Marian scores.

Koch delivered a big hit on Von Ahnen after a catch with 9:12 left in the second quarter at the Green Wave 41. It jarred the ball loose and into the air, allowing Stone to pluck it from the air and race 43 yards for a TD and 28-0 lead.

Down 41-0, St. Edward moved to the Marian Central 1-yard line but Kevin Bussey picked off a short pass over the middle and took off into the open field for a touchdown on a 103-yard interception return to close Marian's scoring.

"Tonight anything was our weakness," Rolando said. "We couldn't play pass defense, we couldn't play run defense, we couldn't make plays on offense, we couldn't make plays on special teams."

They did score on a 9-yard pass from Ben Lehman to Sam Pozezinski with 9:40 to play. Jordan Torres rushed for 85 yards but the Wave will need greater production to make the playoffs next week.

"I think for sure we'll definitely come out to play," Von Ahnen said. "We'll have the home crowd coming to support us. We've just got to get six."

MARIAN CENTRAL 48, ST. EDWARD 7

Marian Central     14   21   13   0   --   48

St. Edward            0     0     0    7   --    7

M -- Andrew Stone 57 pass from Ben Krol (Coltin Wenstrom kick) 10:12

M -- Corey Cavitt 2 run (Wenstrom kick) 3:23

M -- Cavitt 41 run (Wenstrom kick) 10:43

M -- Stone 43 fumble return (Wenstrom kick) 9:12

M -- Jared Koch 13 pass from Krol (Wenstrom kick) 4:15

M -- Koch 67 run (kick failed) 10:49

M -- Kevin Bussey 103 interception return 4:51

S -- Sam Pozezinski 9 pass from Ben Lehman (Jim Cholewa kick) 9:40

                                      MC           STED

First downs                     11                13

Rushes-yards               25-170         21-96

Passing                         6-8-0          10-29-2

Passing yards                  109              100

Total yards                      279              196

Fumbles                          4-0               2-2

Penalties                         3-34             6-50

Punts                             3-33.3         5-28.0

Individual statistics

Rushing

Marian Central: Cavitt 12-106, Koch 4-57, Krol 4-(minus)5, Ryan Wiznerowicz 1-5, Zachary Benkert 1-(minus)1, Adam Szudarski 3-8.

St. Edward: David Hoebbel 12-26, Jordan Torres 7-85, Lehman 3-(minus) 15.

Passing

Marian Central: Krol 6-8-0-109.

St. Edward: Lehman 9-28-2-100.

Receiving

Marian Central: Stone 1-57, Szudarski 2-14, Koch 1-13, Cavitt 1-9, Curtis Price 1-16.

St. Edward: Zack Von Ahnen 5-37, Nick Kerger 1-6, Mike Ellis 1-8, Hoebbel 1-1, Pozezinski 2-22.

Last year: Marian Central 28, St. Edward 7

Notes: The Green Wave has lost six straight and 15 of its past 17 meetings against the Hurricanes. Tonight's game won't count as a conference contest as Marian Central is part of the Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division.

• The Hurricanes are coming off three straight hard-fought victories decided by seven points or less, including a 14-12 win against defending state champion St. Francis last week. Marian Central is ranked No. 7 in the Class 5A state poll and appears headed back to the playoffs for the third time in four years. Junior QB Ben Krol has thrown for 701 yards and junior RB/LB Corey Cavitt has run for 611 yards.

• St. Edward hasn't beaten a team with a winning record yet this season but will have to do so in one of the next two weeks to clinch the program's first playoff berth since 2003. The Wave is coming off a 23-18 loss to Aurora Christian in which it was held to a season low for rushing yards. Junior QB Ben Lehman leads the area with 1,045 passing yards. Senior RB David Hoebbel is second in the area in scoring and third in rushing yards. Senior LB/OL Shane Finnane leads the team with 77 tackles.

Quote: "One of the things we've learned from some of the great teams like Marian is you don't have to have a 100-play playbook. They run a few things but they run it really well and they execute really well."

-- St. Edward coach Mike Rolando

Erik Jacobsen's pick: Marian Central

St. Edward coach Mike Rolando was not a happy camper Friday.

Rolando didn't hold back in expressing his disappointment with the Green Wave during the team's postgame meeting on Greg True Field following a 23-18 loss against Aurora Christian.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward senior Jordan Torres (10) looks for running room against Aurora Christian on Friday. The Green Wave was held to a season-low 60 rushing yards on 31 carries in a losing effort.
(Michael Smart/Staff Photographer)

After watching St. Edward miss tackles, drop passes and generally get pushed around on both sides of the ball by the Eagles, Rolando's frustration came as no surprise.

Friday's defeat aside, the Green Wave's football resurgence this fall has been one of the feel-good stories of the season around the area. But things suddenly aren't so rosy for St. Edward going into the final two weeks of the regular season.

All year the Wave appeared on its way to the program's first trip to the playoffs since 2003 and third postseason berth in school history. At 5-2 overall, St. Edward is already eligible for the playoffs, but a 10th game this year is far from guaranteed.

The Wave must win one more contest to clinch a postseason berth, but that won't be easy as Marian Central and Wheaton Academy loom. Both of those opponents are 5-2 following impressive victories this past weekend.

Unfortunately for St. Edward, a 5-4 record likely won't be enough to punch a ticket to the playoffs. That's because the Wave is short on playoff points, which factors in the combined number of wins a team's opponents have compiled to decide which 5-win squads go to the postseason.

Simply put, St. Edward must get things back on track in a hurry if it wants to extend its season.

"It was disappointing," St. Edward senior Jon Godfrey said of Friday's loss. "But we'll just move on and start to think about next week."

Larkin and Genoa-Kingston are in much the same situation as the Wave. Both of those teams are 4-3 and likely need to win both remaining games to get to the postseason due to a lack of playoff points.

That won't be easy for either squad as the Royals square off against South Elgin in Week 9 and the Cogs take on state-ranked Stillman Valley next Friday.

For St. Edward, it will take a much better effort than the one the team showed Friday to pick up another win.

The Wave looked like an offensive juggernaut for the first six games of the year, averaging 41.3 points, 438 total yards and 280.5 rushing yards per game.

Against Aurora Christian, offensive production was hard to come by as St. Edward mustered only 199 total yards and 60 rushing yards, both of which are season lows. In the end, the Wave simply couldn't contend with the pressure the Eagles brought at the line of scrimmage.

"(Aurora Christian) started to bring a bunch of guys and blitzing their outside linebackers," Rolando said. "We had trouble getting their backers off the line and we couldn't get outside because they have good team speed."

How St. Edward bounces back will define how this 2009 season is remembered. We'll find out what the Wave is made of the next two weeks.

Without further delay, here is a look back at Week 7 and quick look ahead to Week 8.

St. Charles North continued to add to its reputation as the best team in the area by throttling Neuqua Valley 31-5. The North Stars clinched their eighth straight trip to the playoffs while ending the Wildcats' postseason hopes.

All signs pointed to a competitive game when struggling District 300 rivals Dundee-Crown and Jacobs squared off. In the end, it wasn't much of a contest as the Golden Eagles took out some frustration with a 37-6 whipping of the Chargers for their seventh straight win in the series.

St. Charles North at South Elgin, 7:30 p.m. on Friday -- Expect a playoff atmosphere when these two postseason-bound teams collide. The North Stars will be trying to stay in the Upstate Eight Conference title race.

Burlington Central at Hampshire, 7 p.m. on Friday -- The Rockets need to beat the rival Whip-Purs for the third time in four years to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.

Marian Central at St. Edward, 7 p.m. on Friday -- A playoff berth will be on the line for both teams when these former Suburban Catholic Conference foes renew pleasantries.

ELGIN – St. Edward will have to wait at least another week to clinch a postseason berth and at least another year to claim a conference title.

The Green Wave failed in both attempts Friday with a 23-18 loss against Aurora Christian at Greg True Field.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward's Nathan Gaige (21) and Jon Godfrey (7) prepare to stand after tackling Aurora Christian's John Magee (1) during Friday night's homecoming loss.
(Michael Smart/Staff Photographer)

RELATED STORIES

• Photos: Eagles defeat Green Wave
• Twitter: Area scoreboard

St. Edward was held to its lowest offensive output in terms of total yards and couldn't come up with an answer on defense for a punishing Eagles ground attack in the second half.

That all added up to a disappointing homecoming for the Wave, which is playoff eligible but still needs one win in its final two games to secure the program's first playoff appearance since 2003. St. Edward also saw its league title hopes dashed as Aurora Christian (5-2, 4-0) wrapped up the first-ever Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division championship with the win.

"Poor execution sums up the whole game," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "We had too many dropped balls on offense. We were awful tackling and awful wrapping up on defense. They pushed us up and down the field."

The Wave (5-2, 2-2) mounted a 12-play drive on the game's opening possession that resulted in a 26-yard field goal by senior Jim Cholewa. That proved to be the high-water mark for St. Edward's offense, which had a hard time sustaining drives for the rest of the night.

The Green Wave was held to 199 total yards and 60 rushing yards, both season lows. St. Edward, which had negative-20 yards on nine carries in the second half, entered the game averaging 438 total yards and 280.5 rushing yards per contest.

"We started running the ball OK, but they started doing some things up front and that got us out of our game plan," Rolando said.

Despite the offensive woes, the Wave's 3-0 lead held up until Aurora Christian's John McGee scored on a 2-yard touchdown plunge with 1:28 left in the first half to put the Eagles ahead 6-3.

The McGee scoring run proved to be a sign of things to come as the Eagles junior running back ran wild in the second half, piling up 144 yards on 25 carries in the final two quarters. He finished the night with 166 yards and two touchdowns as Aurora Christian piled up 358 total yards.

"We just missed tackles and couldn't find their running back," St. Edward senior Jon Godfrey said. "Missed tackles, that's basically it."

Trailing 14-3 early in the third quarter, Godfrey gave the Wave life when he returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown to pull St. Edward within 14-9. The momentum was short-lived, though, as Aurora Christian scored eight plays later on a 17-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Grayson Roberts to sophomore Mitch Holtz.

St. Edward stayed within striking distance when Cholewa connected on a 36-yard field goal with 32 seconds left in the third quarter to make the score 20-12. The Eagles answered with a field goal of their own on the ensuing drive when Julian Sosa lined a 27-yard kick through the uprights to make it a two-possession game again with 7:42 left.

Wave quarterback Ben Lehman, who struggled for most of the game, finally found a rhythm late in the fourth quarter and led an eight-play, 88-yard scoring drive that ended with a 31-yard touchdown pass to senior David Hoebbel. The strike pulled St. Edward within 23-18 with 1:57 left, but it proved too little too late when Cholewa's ensuing onside kick failed to travel 10 yards, giving the Eagles possession and a chance to run out the clock.

In addition to earning the conference crown, Aurora Christian also secured its eighth straight trip to the playoffs. The Eagles finished second in Class 4A last year.

"This is big," Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe said. "I told the boys that out of the 16 teams that went to state last year, this was the only one that they said in the preseason rankings wouldn't get back to playoffs. The guys were inspired tonight to come out and win the conference title."

AURORA CHRISTIAN 23, ST. EDWARD 18

Aurora Christian     0    6   14    3   --   23

St. Edward             3    0    9     6   --   18

STED – FG Cholewa 26, 7:22

AC – J. McGee 2 run (pass failed), 1:28

AC – J. McGee 40 run (J. McGee run), 9:15

STED – Godfrey 54 interception return (pass failed), 7:23

AC – Holtz 17 pass from Roberts (run failed), 4:15

STED – FG Cholewa 36, 0:32

AC – FG Sosa 27, 7:42

STED – Hoebbel 31 pass from Lehman (pass failed), 1:57

TEAM STATISTICS           STED         AC

First downs                               16              19

Comp.-att.-int.                       9-25-0     11-24-1

Passing yards                           139            158

Rushing att.-yards                   31-60        41-200

Total yards                              199             358

Fumbles-lost                           2-1              4-2

Penalties-yards                       4-42           9-90

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

STED – Hoebbel 16-74, Torres 4-13, Keokanlaya 2-(-1), Godfrey 2-(-2), Lehman 7-(-24).

AC – J. McGee 34-166, S. McGee 3-51, Roberts 4-(-17).

Passing:

STED – Lehman 9-25-0 139.

AC – Roberts 11-23-1 158, S. McGee 0-1-0 0.

Receiving:

STED – Hoebbel 3-58, Von Ahnen 4-49, Pozezinski 1-25, Godfrey 1-7.

AC – S. McGee 3-64, Earwood 2-29, Smith 1-26, Holtz 2-19, J. McGee 2-12, Luckman.1-8.

Aurora Christian (4-2, 3-0)

at St. Edward (5-1, 2-1)

Game time: 7 p.m. today

Last year: Did not play.

Last week: Aurora Christian 26, Immaculate Conception 20 (OT); St. Edward 55, Guerin 6.

Outlook: Coming off a Suburban Christian Conference Gold win over IC with great implications for both teams - inaugural Gold title possibilities for Aurora Christian, IC hanging onto a playoff thread - the Eagles visit another Gold contender. St. Edward, seeking its third playoff berth overall and first since 2003, beat IC 46-38 in Week 3. Eagles coach Don Beebe was there scouting, and while he enjoyed watching IC pass for 493 yards while rallying from a 40-15 fourth-quarter deficit, he was impressed by the size, physicality and abilities of St. Edward. Senior running backs David Hoebbel and Jordan Torres have combined for 1,106 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns, and Torres is 6-foot-2, 220. Quarterback Ben Lehman has thrown for 903 yards and 11 interceptions, most of those numbers to 6-7 Zack Von Ahnen and 6-3 Sam Pozezinski. Those are tall orders for Aurora Christian defensive backs, who will benefit from the return of senior Donald Patterson, out since Week 2 with a high-ankle sprain. St. Edward's Shane Finnane is a four-year starter who defensively has moved from the interior line, and with 6 passes defended to go along with a team-high 68 tackles, shows footwork along with 240 pounds of muscle. Even Finnane and defensive end Dan Duffy (11 sacks) will have a tough time caging Eagles back Johnny Magee, who ran for 202 tackle-breaking yards against IC, his third 200-yard effort of the season. Magee added a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, again evading a tackle. To beat this Green Wave group - which would ensure Aurora Christian of at least a share of the Gold title - this will take an entire team effort, from quarterback Grayson Roberts to receiver Sheldon Magee to Arthur Sampson and the offensive line to defenders Dean Griffing, Dylan Smith, Sam Miller and David Benson. They key - Don Beebe's said it all season - will be turnover ratio. "We'll just have to play physical, as I know they will, too," he said.

Last year: Did not play

Notes: The Green Wave can become playoff eligible for the first time since 2003 with a win. St. Edward is coming off a 42-14 win against Aurora Central Catholic last week. Junior QB Ben Lehman is tied for the lead in area passing yards. Senior FB Jordan Torres and senior RB David Hoebbel have both run for over 475 yards. Senior T/LB Shane Finnane leads the team with 60 tackles. Coach Mike Rolando said St. Edward's offense will throw in a few new wrinkles this week.

• The Gators allowed touchdowns on six straight possessions to start the game in last week's 54-14 loss against Marmion. QB Dennis Kelly completed 13 of 27 passes for 236 yards and two TDs in the defeat. Guerin has allowed 121 points during its current three-game losing streak after allowing no touchdowns in its first two games.

• Tony Pecoraro is in his first season coaching the Gators. Guerin, which is located in River Grove, has never reached the playoffs.

Quote: "They spread the ball around real nice. They don't really key on any one player when they're throwing the ball, so we're going to have to be alert in all positions in the secondary and figure out who they're trying to throw the ball to."

-- Rolando

Erik Jacobsen's pick: St. Edward

Game time 730 p.m. today

Last year St. Edward 42, Aurora Central 7.

Last week Chicago Christian 19, St. Edward 16; Aurora Central 62, Michigan Lutheran 21.

Outlook It's back to the Suburban Christian Conference grind for the ACC Chargers, who put a lickin' on first-year varsity program Michigan Lutheran at posh Valparaiso University. Highlights included Alex Schaefer's 10 carries for 176 yards, 2 touchdowns; and Andrew Scott's best ground game of the season, 128 yards, 2 touchdowns. Before the score got out of hand quarterback Stewart DeWaard completed 4 of 5 passes for 59 yards and his first touchdown of the season, to Justin Garcia. Best news of all was simply the Chargers' first victory in 14 games, since Week 8 of 2007. "Every kid got in and got some playing experience," coach Mike Curry said. The Chargers will need to draw on that experience in this week's SCC crossover against St. Edward, one of several teams competing for the inaugural SCC Gold title even with its loss to Chicago Christian. Twice the Green Wave thought it had the winning touchdown - on a Ben Lehman pass to 6-foot-3 Sam Pozezinski and on a Jordan Torres run - but officials didn't see it the same way. Under fifth-year coach Mike Rolando the Green Wave is a far cry from its days as a 27-time loser. Along with quality skill players who include 6-6 receiver Zack VonAhnen, the Green Wave is thick on the line, headed by four-year starter Shane Finnane, who also plays middle linebacker. In an epic 46-38 win over defending Class 2A champion Immaculate Conception, St. Edward's line won both sides of the ball, and that's rare against IC. With Aurora Central linemen Robert Reier and Mike Ryan both questionable with injuries, it puts more emphasis on Charger bruisers John Belovich, Andrew and Tyler Scott and Adam Blake to meet the physical challenge. "We'll try to keep the ball out of their hands and move the chains," Curry said. "If we can't do that, we won't stop them."

Next week St. Edward at Guerin (2-2, 0-2)

Last year: St. Edward 42, ACC 7

Notes: The Green Wave's three-game win streak came to a screeching halt in last week's 19-16 home loss against Chicago Christian. St. Edward was held well below its season average of 37.8 points, and its 299 yards of offense was also down from its season average of 440.5 yards per game. Senior FB Jordan Torres leads the team with 440 rushing yards and has scored a TD in every game.

• The Chargers picked up their first win last week by knocking off Michigan Lutheran 62-21 on a neutral site in Valparaiso, Ind. ACC had accumulated only 17 points through its first three games prior to last week's outburst. Senior RB/DB Alex Schaefer is one of the top offensive threats for the Chargers.

• The Green Wave has lost six of its past 10 meetings against the Chargers. Tonight's game won't count toward either team's conference records as ACC is a member of the Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division this year.

Quote: "As a program we didn't answer the bell last week. We need to learn from it. We've really got to settle down and refocus on ACC this week. They scored 62 points on Saturday. I don't know much about who they played, but regardless, 62 points is a lot of points. So we need to be ready to play some defense."

-- St. Edward coach Mike Rolando

Erik Jacobsen's pick: St. Edward

ELGIN – No one could have blamed St. Edward for feeling robbed of a victory Friday night after twice being denied apparent go-ahead touchdowns on controversial calls in the game's final minutes.

However, Green Wave coach Mike Rolando wasn't blaming anyone except himself and his team's own shortcomings in a 19-16 loss to Chicago Christian in Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division play at Greg True Field.

"We should have never let it come down to a call at the end of the game," said Rolando. "We didn't come ready to play. There was no sense of urgency on our part. There is plenty of blame to go around right here with both coaches and players."

With Chicago Christian (2-2, 1-1) leading 19-16, it appeared that St. Edward (3-1, 1-1) had taken the lead with 5:21 left in the game when Ben Lehman's 33-yard pass in the end zone to Sam Pozezinski was ruled a touchdown by the back judge.

However, the ball came loose when Pozezinski hit the ground. After an officials' conference, the play was ruled an incomplete pass. Moments later, St. Edward moved the ball to the Chicago Christian 1-yard line.

On a third-down play from the 1, Jordan Torres dove across the goal line for what appeared to be a go-ahead TD with 3:12 left in the game. The officials did not see it that way and marked the ball inches away from the goal line. Torres was then stuffed on a fourth-down run up the middle to end the Wave's hopes of going 4-0 for the first time in 25 years.

"I thought it was a touchdown," said Torres. "But what can you do? You have to go with the call that was made."

But Torres agreed with his coach that the game should have never come down to that play.

"I think we overlooked this team," said Torres, whose team knocked off defending Class 2A state champion Immaculate Conception last week. "We didn't come ready to play, we had a bad week of practice and you saw what happened because of it. We just made way too many mistakes."

St. Edward got off to a horrendous start. Two first-quarter fumbles deep in its own territory led to a pair of TDs for Chicago Christian and St. Edward trailed 13-0.

St. Edward regrouped to score a TD on a 12-yard run by Torres with :46 left in the first quarter. The Wave then took a 14-13 lead with 2:32 left in the second quarter on a 46-yard TD strike from Lehman to Pozezinski.

On the play, Pozezinski grabbed the ball at the 30-yard line, and with a nice spin move around his defender, raced down the sideline for the score. However, St. Edward's offense sputtered in the second half. Early in the fourth quarter, Lehman threw an interception just across midfield, which was returned inside the Wave's 10-yard line. That set up the go-ahead TD for the Knights, making it 19-14 with 9:01 to play.

Later in the quarter, St. Edward pinned the Knights at their own 1-yard line and got a safety when Jon Keokanlaya tackled a Knights player in the end zone.

Torres finished with 65 yards on 15 carries for St. Edward, which gained 299 yards of offense, 186 yards below its average.

Chicago Christian 19, St. Edward 16

Chicago Christian 13   0   0   6   --  19

St. Edward           7    7   0   2   --  16

Team statistics               CC               STE

First downs                       10                  11

Comp.-att.-int.               7-16-0           6-19-1

Passing yards                   141                122

Rushing yards                 41-98           37-177

Total yards                       239               299

Fumbles-lost                     1-0               4-2

Penalties-yards                 7-46             6-44

Individual statistics

Rushing

CC – Vander Laan 20-81, Ryan 4-13.

STE – Torres 15-65, Hoebbel 11 -30, Godfrey 2-42, Keokanlaya 7-47, Lehman 2-(minus 7).

Passing

CC – Vander Laan 5-14-0-98, Warren 2-2-0-43.

STE – Lehman 6-19-1-122.

Receiving

CC – Kowalczyk 4-56.

STE – Pozezinski 2-70, Von Ahnen 3-43, Godfrey 1-9.

Last year: Did not play

Notes: Tonight's game marks the first Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division showdown between the Knights and Green Wave. Located in Palos Heights, Chicago Christian comes from the Private School League.

• Despite their sub-.500 record, the Knights represent another formidable test for St. Edward. Chicago Christian took a lead into the fourth quarter last week before losing 20-15 its league opener to Aurora Christian. Junior QB Jason VanderLaan leads an offense that Green Wave coach Mike Rolando says is similar to the double-wing attack St. Edward saw in Week 1 against Hampshire. The Knights also run the option at times. The Knights haven't had a losing season since 1996.

• The Green Wave looks to carry the momentum from last week's 46-38 win at state-ranked Immaculate Conception. St. Edward can improve to 4-0 for the first time since 1984 with a victory. A prolific offense has been key to the Wave's success so far this year. St. Edward leads the area with 45 points per game. The Wave is averaging 485.3 yards of offense per contest and 9.5 yards per rushing attempt. Junior QB Ben Lehman threw for 3 TDs last week and senior RB David Hoebbel and senior FB Jordan Torres are both averaging over 100 rushing yards a game.

Quote: "Offensively, when you have that many weapons and tools that are successful, it all comes down to the offensive line. It doesn't matter who we're giving the ball to or how we're moving the ball. The offensive line is protecting Ben when we pass and they are opening up great holes when we run."

-- Rolando

Erik Jacobsen's pick: St. Edward

ELMHURST -- St. Edward players and coaches saw it as confirmation rather than a coronation.

A Green Wave football program still without a state playoff victory and only one playoff berth the previous quarter century, charged to a 40-15 second-half lead Saturday over defending state Class 2A champion Immaculate Conception, then hung on through anxious moments for a 46-38 victory to go 3-0 on the year.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward's Alex Arciuch (left) and Jon Godfrey celebrate the Green Wave's 46-38 win over Immaculate Conception Saturday in Elmhurst.
(Mary Beth Nolan/For The Courier-News)

PHOTO GALLERY

• Green Wave win

"This was 'It's time to put that rebuilding word to sleep,' " coach Mike Rolando said about the opening Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division win. "I told the boys 'You're not going to hear that rebuilding word anymore.'

"This is a formidable program. We expect to sustain it."

The Green Wave sustained a balanced offense from the outset Saturday to finish with 512 yards with nary a punt, but IC -- ranked second in the 3A state poll -- scored 31 fourth-quarter points to turn it into a contest.

Nick Scholly recovered two onside kicks in the final six minutes for the Green Wave and quarterback Ben Lehman threw for three touchdowns and 214 yards, but no completions were bigger than his third-and-five toss for 12 yards to Sam Pozezinski that let St. Edward kill off the clock.

"We came into the game figuring it would be a pretty low-scoring game," said Lehman, who completed 13 of 19. "We came in right off the bat scoring touchdowns."

Throwing an assortment of fade routes and jump balls early to 6-foot-7 wide receiver Zack Von Ahnen, Lehman was able to hurt IC (1-2, 0-1) through the air and set up the running of David Hoebbel and Jordan Torres. Each back rushed for 105 yards.

"The first two games there was a lot of running attack and I think today the receivers really stepped up and the line did a great job blocking so we could score a lot of touchdowns," Lehman said.

St. Edward led 14-0 after a quarter on Von Ahnen's 8-yard TD catch on a jump ball and Lehman's 9-yard TD run. By halftime, the lead hit 26-7 after Torres broke a 58-yard run off right tackle and Von Ahnen took advantage of yet another height mismatch for a 17-yard TD pass.

"All week we had been working on that jump ball," Von Ahnen said. "We knew their corners were small. We expected for me to draw a double team and open up the middle of the field for the big guy, Jordan, and David Hoebbel to run."

St. Edward's running game took control in the second half and Pozezinski then caught a 21-yard TD pass from Lehman for a 32-7 lead with 11:12 left in the game.

After Kyle Sirvanovic caught his second TD pass of the game -- a 63-yard pass from Will Cronin, St. Edward seemed to have complete command as it marched to Hoebbel's 5-yard TD with 7:50 left for a 40-15 lead.

But Cronin had just begun to pass. He wound up with 414 yards passing on 16 of 28, including a 78-yarder to Steve Maloney and a 44-yarder to Sirvanovic, sandwiched around a safety -- within a span of one minute and three seconds -- to cut the Wave lead to 40-30.

However, Hoebbel broke a 26-yard TD run for a 46-30 lead and the Wave's lead never got to one score until Maloney caught a 45-yard TD bomb on fourth-and-18 with 2:19 left and Conor Hendricks converted a two-point PAT run. But the Wave was able to run out the clock after Lehman's big third-down completion.

"Will Cronin had an unbelievable day," Rolando said. "But we've got to find a way to play some pass defense, stay out of those situations.

"Luckily the offense picked it up and we were able to score enough points to keep us out front in this one. We don't expect the defense to give up this many points in crucial situations like that."

St. Edward (2-0) at Immaculate Conception (1-1)

When: Saturday at 1 p.m.

Last year: Immaculate Conception 22, St. Edward 0

Last week: St. Edward 57, Rockford Lutheran 7; Immaculate Conception 34, Walther Lutheran 14

Outlook: Considered two of the favorites to win the Gold Division, either the Green Wave or the Knights will get a leg up on a title with a win in this Suburban Christian Conference opener. St. Edward has outscored its first two opponents 89-13. IC lost 31-30 in Week 1 to Bishop Ready of Columbus, Ohio, but the Knights bounced back last week with a solid win against Walther Lutheran. However, they lost two-way stalwart Carlos Rodriquez early in the third quarter to a knee injury suffered during an interception return. Rodriguez ran for 1,502 yards and 19 TDs and made 84 tackles last year for the Class 2A state champions. "He's a good kid, a nice kid and you definitely don't want to see something like that happen," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said of Rodriquez. "You hate to see it, but I'm sure they'll put a formidable running back behind that 300-pound line and be ready to go. They're 280 (pounds) on average with two guys over three hundred. They're huge, there's no other way to put it. They'll definitely have us out-sized but we have some good players, kids who have been playing hard and getting the job done. The first couple of weeks we had to prepare for SCC games, and we expect this to be more physical than the games we've played so far." IC quarterback Will Cronin ran for 2 touchdowns last week and threw for another. St. Edward rushed for 328 yards last week, led by running back David Hoebbel (12 caries, 138 yards, 3 TDs) and fullback Jordan Torres (4-109-2).

St. Edward seems to be making the most of a favorable schedule.

The Green Wave got a break this year with six of its games slated to be played at Greg True Field, and so far there's been plenty for the home fans to cheer about.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward's offense huddles during its season opener against Hampshire, which was the first of six home games the Green Wave will play at Greg True Field this year. Dave Shields | For The Courier-News

St. Edward followed up a convincing win against Hampshire in the season opener with a 57-7 walloping of Rockford Lutheran last Friday. The outburst marks the Wave's highest scoring output since at least 1981.

Coach Mike Rolando's team returns home in two weeks to play Chicago Christian before finishing the year with three straight games on Elgin's west side. The unusual scheduling quirk came about when the Wave was awarded four home games in the new Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division on top of its two previously scheduled non-conference home games.

Considering that some area teams have only four home games, St. Edward isn't complaining about its good fortune.

"With the new conference, it just kind of the way it worked out for us," Rolando said. "We'll take it. Now we've got to get our field in shape for all six of them."

The Wave will likely have the normal four or five-game home schedule in 2010 when the SCC schedule realigns.

Next year Aurora Central Catholic will move from the Blue Division to the Gold Division. Meanwhile, the 2009 champion of the Gold Division will move up to the Blue Division, which includes former Suburban Catholic Conference titans Montini, St. Francis, Marian Central and Marmion.

What team will ultimately join the Blue Division could be decided this Saturday when St. Edward travels to take on Immaculate Conception.

The Knights are the favorite to win the Gold Division this year after capturing the Class 2A state championship last season. The Wave and Aurora Christian are expected to be IC's toughest challengers, and the winner of this week's meeting in Elmhurst will earn front-runner status.

Young QBs making mark -- Handing the keys to the offense to a varsity newcomer can be risky, but so far the gamble is paying off for several area teams with young quarterbacks.

Two young signal callers were on display Friday in Carpentersville when Streamwood beat Dundee-Crown 28-27. Sabres sophomore Dalton Lundeen led a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, but it was Chargers junior Tanner Kotlan who had the more prolific night, completing 17 of 26 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns.

"(Kotlan) has a ton of poise back there," D-C coach Mike Davis said. "Things were covered and he got around and found the open guy."

Larkin is off to a 2-0 start with sophomore Kyle Newquist at quarterback. Newquist completed 8 of 13 passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns against Oswego East last week.

At South Elgin, varsity newcomer John Menken has helped the Storm to a 2-0 start. The junior passed for a pair of touchdowns and led South Elgin with 90 rushing yards on 11 carries in Friday's win at Vernon Hills.

Meanwhile, St. Edward is 2-0 with junior Ben Lehman at quarterback. The 6-foot-2 Lehman has a pair of touchdown passes so far.

Another varsity newcomer turning heads is St. Charles North junior Jake Bergren. Although he's split time with two other quarterbacks over the first two weeks, Bergren has looked sharp by completing 12 of 17 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns.

Green Wave scores 36 points in first quarter

ELGIN - By the end of the night, the sight was familiar – a white-clad St. Edward running back dashing down the field, with would-be tacklers blocked off by teammates and the end zone waiting at the end.

The Green Wave rushed for six touchdowns on Friday night – with five of the scores over 13 yards – and walloped visiting Rockford Lutheran 57-7.

St. Edward (2-0) ran for 326 yards on the night, with 285 of those coming in the first half that ended with the Wave up 43-7.

David Hoebbel led the way with 137 yards on the ground on 12 carries, including a huge 122-yard, three-touchdown first quarter. The first quarter ended with St. Edward ahead 36-7.

The "thunder" to Hoebbel's "lightning" was Jordan Torres, who rushed for 108 yards on only four carries and rambled for two touchdowns that were both longer than 25 yards.

The scoring outburst by St. Edward was the most it's tallied in at least the last 29 years.

"It's been a long time since anybody scored 57 points here," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "(I'm) just proud of these kids. (In the) first quarter we were really effective. The running and the blocking in the first quarter (was) executed well.

"Last year we started out 2-0 and we ended up 4-5. That would be unacceptable this year. The next step for this program is to make the playoffs."

The Wave's defense also enjoyed a huge night, shutting down the Crusaders' attack to the tune of 113 total yards and no offensive touchdowns.

The defense came away with four turnovers, including a 31-yard Nathan Gaige interception return for a TD that put St. Edward up 36-7 late in the first quarter. Jon Godfrey and Shane Finnane also grabbed picks and Jim Cholewa snared a fumble recovery.

"It was a lot of fun," Cholewa said. "Lots of great plays by everyone and I'm just happy to be a part of that defense. It was ferocious tonight."

Added Rolando: "They stepped up. They wanted to preserve the defensive shutout and not let them back in the end zone."

St. Edward got the scoring under way on the fifth play from scrimmage, when Hoebbel trotted in from 7 yards out to make it 7-0 with 10:15 left in the first. Just under two minutes later Rockford Lutheran (0-2) knotted things up when quarterback Ben Lehman (8-for-22, 108 passing yards, 1 TD, 3 INT) was intercepted by Lutheran's Jonata Pike, who returned it for a score with 8:41 left.

Hoebbel hit paydirt on a 16-yard run with 5:34 left to put the Wave back up seven and Torres' 29-yard touchdown gallop with 3:31 left followed by a Hoebbel two-point conversion put the Wave up 22-7.

"It's awesome," Hoebbel said of his blocking. "They work hard all week and it shows in the game. Our line's amazing this year."

Hoebbel's third score of the night came on a 13-yard run with 1:32 left in the first and just four plays after Cholewa's fumble recovery in Lutheran territory. Sixteen seconds later Gaige made his way into the end zone with the interception return to make it 36-7.

A 35-yard touchdown toss from Lehman to Sam Pozezinski (2 catches, 58 yards) was the lone score of the second quarter as the Wave relied on its still-growing passing game the rest of the half.

"What we really wanted to do was get him some work and allow him to make some mistakes in a game like this so that when we need him to come through and win a game for us," Rolando said of Lehman. "He's going to be a great quarterback. I love the way he leads the team. We had to get him a lot of reps tonight."

The final two scores came on long TD runs by Torres (43 yards) and Godfrey (85 yards) to ensure a running clock for the game's final 17:37.

St. Edward outgained Lutheran 434-113.

The lone blemish for the Wave was its six penalties that amounted to 78 yards. Lutheran compiled 10 penalties for 120 yards.

Awaiting the Wave next week will be defending Class 2A champion and Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division rival Immaculate Conception.

"We just can't look past IC," Hoebbel said. "They're really good. It's going to be a tough game and we have to work hard this week."

Added Rolando: "We're going to find out what (we're) made of real quick."

St. Edward 57, Rockford Lutheran 7

Rockford L.    7    0    0    0   —  7

St. Edward     36   7    7    7   — 57

ST. ED — Hoebbel 7 run (Cholewa kick), 10:15

RLUTH — Pike 32 interception return (Bonzi kick), 8:41

ST. ED — Hoebbel 16 run (Cholewa kick), 5:34

ST. ED — Torres 29 run (Hoebbel run), 3:31

ST. ED — Hoebbel 13 run (Cholewa kick), 1:32

ST. ED — Gaige interception return (Cholewa kick), 1:16

ST. ED — Pozezinski 35 pass from Lehman (Cholewa kick), 9:03

ST. ED — Torres 43 run (Cholewa kick), 7:37

ST. ED — Godfrey 85 run (Cholewa kick), 2:3

Team statistics             RL           STED

First downs                      9               10

Comp.-att-int.             4-23-3        8-22-3

Passing yards                  39              108

Rushing-att-yds.           28-74         22-326

Total yards                    113              434

Fumbles-lost                  4-1              1-0

Penalties-yards            10-120          6-78

Individual statistics

Rushing:

RLUTH — Pike 17-55, Kopleman 8-13, Wieting 1-6, Neese 0-0.

STED — Hoebbel 12-137, Torres 4-108, Godfrey 3-86, Lehman 1-(minus)8, Keokanlaya 1-3.

Passing:

RLUTH — Kopleman 4-23-3 39.

STED — Lehman 8-22-3 108.

Receiving:

RLUTH — Wieting 2-9, Pike 1-15, Albrecht 1-15.

STED – Pozezinski 2-58, Von Ahnen 2-23, Hoebbel 3-22, Torres 1-5.

When: Today at 7 p.m. at Greg True Field

Last: First meeting

Last week: St. Edward 32, Hampshire 6; Racine (Wis.) Lutheran 6, Rockford Lutheran 0

Outlook: Rockford Lutheran replaces Kirkland-Hiawatha on St. Edward's nonconference schedule. The Crusaders, a Class 4A team from the Big Northern Conference's West Division, are coming off a 1-8 season and were shut out in last week's season opener. But the Green Wave won't take running back Jonata Pike (19 carries, 110 yards) and his teammates lightly. "They look better and bigger on film than we anticipated," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said, "but if we play well, I feel we can be competitive with anybody. They didn't throw a ton last week due to conditions. They're a spread team. They run a single back and he runs down hill hard. Their tight end, quarterback and running back are really good athletes. As long as we maintain our discipline, know our assignments on defense and everyone plays their role we should be fine." Rolando was pleased with last week's season-opening win against Hampshire overall, but was irked by what he called undisciplined penalties and missed assignments. "We left a lot of meat on the bone," he said. "We have to shore that up before we go into conference play because we can't play like that and expect to win in the SCC." The offensive line paved the way for senior fullback Jordan torres to rush for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns on 9 carries and the offense gained 464 total yards. Quarterback Ben Lehman threw for 114 yards and a touchdown on 6-of-10 passing in his first varsity start.

ELGIN – For a fullback, St. Edward senior Jordan Torres sure looked nimble.

Torres ran for three touchdowns, two of which were of the long-distance variety, as the Green Wave rolled past visiting Hampshire 32-6 in Friday's season opener at Greg True Field.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward's David Hoebbel in Friday's game against Hampshire.

(Dave Shields/For The Courier-News)

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Torres finished with 162 yards on 10 carries, including scoring runs of 87 and 52 yards. St. Edward's beefy offensive line also created plenty of space for the rest of the team's backs as the Wave racked up 8.6 yards per carry on a playing surface that resembled a mud pit after a week of soccer games and steady rain.

"Our holes were huge," Torres said. "Our line really stepped up all night and gave us a lot of room to run."

Added St. Edward coach Mike Rolando: "That's what we expect out of those guys (on the line). They average 230 pounds, they've got some varsity years under their belt and they've got some big running backs to follow them. In games like this they have to step up because you can't rely on the passing game. You've got to run first in the mud."

Hampshire did itself no favors by turning the ball over five times while losing its season opener to the Wave for the second straight year.

The Whips were inside the St. Edward 30-yard line on their second drive of the game when quarterback Joe Peralta was intercepted on fourth down by Nathan Gaige. Two plays later, Torres took off for an 87-yard run up the middle to put the Wave ahead 6-0.

Hampshire's ensuing possession lasted only two plays as Peralta fumbled a snap that was recovered by St. Edward sophomore Evan Finnane. The Wave wasted no time finding the end zone again as junior quarterback Ben Lehman connected with junior Sam Pozezinski for a 31-yard touchdown pass with 4:47 left in the first quarter.

The onslaught continued from that point as St. Edward built a 32-0 lead before the Whips scored their only points of the game on A.J. Sabate's 2-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.

"You can't turn the ball over as many times as we did," Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said. "It's a cliché, but it's true. You just can't turn the ball over that many times against a quality team."

Senior Ron Laramie led the Whips with 67 yards on nine carries. Hampshire managed only 153 yards of offense as Peralta watched from the sidelines in the second half with what Cavanaugh described as cramps.

Lehman enjoyed a productive varsity debut, completing 6 of 12 passes for 103 yards. Senior David Hoebbel also excelled out of the backfield, running for 128 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.

The decisive victory marked another step in the right direction for the Wave, which has lofty expectations this year after nearly becoming playoff eligible in 2008.

"We expect to play well and we expect to come out and be competitive," Rolando said. "This team has a lot of confidence and they have a lot of experience. We're just excited about what they did on the field tonight."

ST. EDWARD 32, HAMPSHIRE 6

Hampshire     0     0     0      6    —    6

St. Edward   12    7    13     0    —   32

STED — Torres 87 run (kick failed), 5:51

STED — Pozezinski 31 pass from Lehman (run failed), 4:47

STED — Hoebbel 10 run (Jim Cholewa kick), 10:19

STED — Torres 3 run (pass failed), 8:51

STED — Torres 52 run (Jim Cholewa kick), 4:32

HAMP — Sabate 2 run (pass failed), 10:21

Team statistics             HAMP           STED

First downs                       10                    21

Comp.-att-int.                1-6-2              6-12-0

Passing yards                    10                   103

Rushing-att-yds.             38-153            42-363

Total yards                      163                   466

Fumbles-lost                    6-3                   1-1

Penalties-yards                3-15               12-103

Individual statistics

Rushing:

HAMP — Laramie 9-67, Sabate 8-37, Kuefner 5-37, Peralta 1-14, Kendrick 8-10, Burke 6-1, Smith 1-(-13).

STED — Torres 10-162, Hoebbel 17-128, Godfrey 8-49, Keokanlaya 5-23, Scholly 1-3, Lehman 1-(-2).

Passing:

HAMP — Peralta 1-6-2 10.

STED — Lehman 6-12-0 103.

Receiving:

HAMP — Burke 1-10.

STED – Von Ahnen 4-55, Pozezinski 1-31, Hoebbel 1-17

Bigger, stronger and more versatile.

That describes a St. Edward football team hoping to take yet another step ahead as Mike Rolando begins his fifth season as the Green Wave coach.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward senior Nathan Gaige is back for his fourth varsity season as a starting linebacker. Coming off a 4-5 finish last season, the Green Wave hopes to contend for the Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division title and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Andrew A. Nelles | For The COurier-news

St. Edward Green Wave

 

2008 record: 4-5

Coach: Mike Rolando (5-31 in 5th season)

"We keep getting better each year and that's the plan again," said Rolando, whose team went 4-5 last season. "I think we'll be able to run the ball well again and now we're able to throw it, too. There's a lot of very cautious optimism around here."

Perhaps the main reason for that is the majority of starters are returning on both sides of the ball and they are upperclassmen who have come a long way from enduring lopsided losses as youngsters.

Leading the way is 6-foot, 235-pound senior Shane Finnane, who will play left offensive tackle and middle linebacker after moving from defensive tackle.

He is part of an offensive line that averages about 230 pounds per player. Joining fourth-year starter Finnane up front as returnees are senior tight end Zack Von Ahnen (6-7, 230) and senior right tackle Kevin Lawson (6-0, 240).

Bruising runner Jordan Torres (6-2, 220), a three-year starter, will play fullback and seniors David Hoebbel (5-8, 175) and Jon Godfrey (5-5, 175) will play running back. Junior quarterback Ben Lehman (6-2, 185) will run an offense that averaged 255 rushing yards per game last season.

"(Lehman) has become a leader for us and has the respect of the upperclassmen," said Rolando. "And he can throw it."

Junior receiver Sam Pozezinski (6-3, 180) and Von Ahnen figure to be the main targets for Lehman, who tossed 20 touchdowns for the sophomore team in 2008.

The Wave's defense, susceptible to big pass plays last season, will be spearheaded by four-year starter Nathan Gaige (5-11, 205) at linebacker. Pozezinski, Godfrey, junior Nick Scholly (6-1, 170) and senior Alex Arciuch (5-7, 165) will bolster the secondary.

The defensive line looks to three-year starter Dan Duffy (6-0, 185), a senior end, and former linebacker Price Davis (6-1, 180), a senior who has moved to tackle.

"I really think defense could be our strong point," said Rolando, who isn't too concerned about his offense either.

The Wave will compete in the Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division along with Aurora Christian, Chicago Christian, Guerin, Immaculate Conception and Wheaton Academy.

Showing off their talents

Finnane, St. Edward teammates gaining attention at combines

Developing a successful high school football program isn't just about those 48 minutes on Friday evening. The results on those fall nights are simply the Point B to the offseason's Point A.

Only a couple of years ago St. Edward High School's football program seemed grounded at Point A and a long way from getting to the desired results of Point B. However, the Green Wave players and staff have made up ground at a rapid pace.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward's Shane Finnane (center, white jersey) recently attended his third straight National Underclassmen Combine Ultimate 100 event.

(Submitted)

» Click to enlarge image

Shane Finnane

Within three years, St. Edward went from winless to fighting for a playoff berth in its final few games.

"I didn't know what I was getting myself into," admits coach Mike Rolando, who took over in 2005. "We wouldn't be having this conversation five years ago."

Earlier this month, St. Edward experienced another success as five of its players were invited to the National Underclassmen Combine Ultimate 100 event in Indianapolis.

Senior linebacker Shane Finnane was back at his third NUC Ultimate 100 event and was joined by senior tight end Zack VonAhnen, junior quarterback Ben Lehman, sophomore lineman Evan Finnane and sophomore running back Luke Duffy.

"All five worked hard year round," Rolando said. "They've made the time. They are standouts and this proves that."

As college scouts continue to search for new ways of evaluating talent, combines have taken on a larger role in gaining scholarships. St. Edward has made sure not to be passed up by the recent trend.

"We started to encourage them to lift and we started going to local combines," Rolando said.

"They've gotten stronger. You can see how strong they were compared to before."

Participants for the Ultimate 100 event in Indianapolis were selected from nine states throughout the Midwest. The Finnanes, VonAhnen and Duffy were all selected after showing off their skills at a combine in Libertyville in April. Lehman was picked after competing at a combine in Des Moines, Iowa, in June.

The players are tested in and compete in a variety of drills at the combines, including a 40-yard dash, vertical leap, bench press and other competitions pitting player against player. Each combine ends with individual awards handed out for honors that include Combine King, Camp MVP, Strongest Player and Fastest Player.

Shane and Evan Finnane both picked up the Strongest Player awards in their respective classes at the Libertyville combine, owing much of that to their weight training devotion ingrained in them by their father, Jim.

"My dad was the strength coach for St. Edward," Shane Finnane said. "He started me off and I just started doing it myself. I realized kind of quick (how much it helped). When I was a freshman, I was only benching 115 (pounds) and less than a year later I was benching 225."

Added Rolando: "Shane lifts five days a week. He lifts on Thanksgiving, Christmas. He's the strongest kid in our program."

Back for his third Ultimate 100 combine, the experience hasn't quite become old hat yet for Shane, who expressed a lot of excitement when talking about a rival from last year's combine that is now playing at Rutgers.

"It's just kind of fun to compete with others and from so many schools," Shane Finnane said. "When (my brother or I) take home an award, it's really a sense of pride for St. Edward."

Summer practices and the fact that Shane is now being joined by more and more teammates at the combines have him excited about the start of the high school season, now just over a month away.

"We are already looking better than last year," Shane Finnane said.

Rolando is clearly pleased with the turnaround but knows that improvements can still be made.

"It is a sense of pride to see the things add up," Rolando said. "The (players) see some success and that has motivated the kids. There are more kids lifting and more are interested in the program. We're trying to build it up the right way. (Trying) to change the attitude, change the reputation.

"This year we had five kids going to play in college. The program is heading in the right direction ,but we are not where we need to be yet."

With the season approaching, success at Point B is now a realistic goal.

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN
Shane Finnane, St. Edward
Junior, 6-0, 240

Finnane was a big part of the Green Wave’s significant improvement on defense this season with his play at defensive tackle. The All-Suburban Catholic Conference honoree finished the year with 63 tackles and two sacks. He also forced a fumble, recovered three fumbles and deflected a pass.

LINEBACKER
Moises Quiroga, St. Edward
Senior, 5-11, 225

Qurioga starred on offense and defense for the Green Wave. The two-time All-Suburban Catholic Conference honoree and two-time All-Area team member compiled 80 tackles, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and one interception. He also finished his fourth varsity season running for 608 yards and seven touchdowns on 88 carries.

RUNNING BACK
Jimmy Mathisen, St. Edward
Senior, 5-8, 185

Mathisen made a major impact on offense and defense for the Green Wave in his second varsity season. He was the team’s leading rusher with 972 yards and 11 touchdowns on 146 carries. The All-Suburban Catholic Conference honoree also had 57 tackles and three forced fumbles.

Moises Quiroga St. Edward

This four-year starter was the key player in the revival of St. Edward football over the past four seasons. After leading the team in tackles the last three years, the middle linebacker notched another 80 total tackles to finish second for a team that won 4 games for the first time since reaching the playoffs in 2003. A punishing rusher, he carried the ball 88 times for 608 yards (6.9 avg.) and 7 touchdowns. "Mo has been here for four years and he's been the heart and soul," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "He helped this program evolve, keeping things respectable the last four years by making huge plays. Academically and football-wise he's maturing and developing into an awesome young man. We'll definitely miss him. He left this program better than he found it and his legacy will live on forever and ever at St. Ed's."

Jimmy Mathisen St. Edward

This senior delivered on both sides of the ball for a St. Edward team that fell one game shy of making the playoffs due to a brutal Suburban Catholic Conference schedule that included two eventual state champions and two quarterfinalists. Mathisen was the leading rusher for an offense that gained 88 percent of its yards on the ground. He carried the ball 146 times for 972 yards (6.7 avg.) and 11 touchdowns. Defensively, he moved from safety to outside linebacker during the season and finished with 57 total tackles and an interception. "Jimmy was an absolute warrior," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "He just made plays. He's a great instinctive football player and a key player with a great attitude."

St. Edward - Shane Finnane (OL/DL, Jr.), Nathan Gaige (LB, Jr.), Jim Waclawik (TE/DE, Sr.), Ryan Eigenhauser (TE/DE, Sr.), Josh Scholly (DB, Jr.)

The Green Wave will welcome back a host of players up front, including juniors Shane Finnane, Rich Budish and Daniel Duffy. Zack Von Ahnen, David Hoebbel, Jon Godfrey, Jordan Torres and Nathan Gaige will also return to a group that could help St. Edward get over the hump and reach the postseason in 2009.

ELGIN -- St. Edward senior Jimmy Mathisen, like many of his teammates, was overcome with emotion following Friday night's crushing 33-27 home loss to Montini -- ranked No. 2 in the Class 5A state poll.

Tears ran down both sides of Mathisen's face, smearing the phrase "No Regrets" that was written on each side of the eye black under his eyes.

Like so many times before, St. Edward was less than a handful of plays away from shocking not only the Suburban Catholic Conference, but the state with a possible victory over the undefeated Broncos (8-0, 6-0) at Greg True Field.

That didn't make the difficult defeat any easier to digest, but it did prove a point to some degree -- St. Edward, which won one game last season, has sure come a long way in a short time. Still, a postseason berth will not happen this season.

"We knew what we were playing for tonight. If we didn't win there was a very slim chance of getting into the playoffs," Mathisen said. "We told ourselves to leave nothing on the field and play with no regrets.

"Losing never feels good, but everyone should be proud. A couple of years ago the coaches just told us to play as hard as we could against teams like this. This year, we knew we had a chance against them and we came out ready to win tonight."

St. Edward (3-5, 1-5) had Montini backpedaling from the very start. The Broncos didn't take their first lead until early in the second half before pulling ahead by their biggest margin, 26-14, with 5:43 left in the third quarter.

However, this time St. Edward wasn't about to back down, responding with a touchdown on its next drive following a fumble recovery in the end zone by Moises Quiroga. Quiroga (19 rushes, 84 yards) scooped up a loose ball after Cory Diaz had fumbled at the goal line on second-and-goal from the 1-yard line to make the score 26-20.

"We convinced them all week that we could beat this team," Wave coach Mike Rolando said. "They finally came out confident they could win. It was senior night and all the history they've been through, the guys really wanted this one and they played with a lot of heart tonight."

St. Edward then stopped Montini on consecutive drives, but was unable to come away with any points despite starting its possessions inside the Broncos' 40-yard line on both occasions. The Broncos eventually made the Green Wave pay for its inability to seize control -- pulling a rabbit out of the hat to break the hearts of the Green Wave.

Facing third-and-31 from the St. Edward 45-yard line, Broncos quarterback Tom DiCristina (15-of-19 passing, 335 yards, 3 TDs) eluded a near sack and found Grant Goebel behind St. Edward's last line of defense and alone in the back of the end zone for a TD and a 33-20 lead with 2:53 remaining.

"We were one play, one break away from making this happen," Rolando said. "Give Montini credit, they stepped up when they had to and made a big play. We had our fingertips on his jersey, but (DiCristina) was able to scramble around and make something happen."

St. Edward still refused to give up, getting back within 33-27 with 29 seconds left after Mathisen (20 carries, 167 yards, 2 TDs) rumbled in from 9 yards out. However, the onside kick attempt was recovered by Montini to seal the victory for the visitors.

"The only overwhelming feeling I have right now is just how proud I am of these boys," Rolando said. "We are not going to get to play in the postseason and it's just a shame. We are one of the best (Class) 4A teams there is and these kids deserve it."

St. Edward scored on its first possession of the game, marching 69 yards on 14 plays, while chewing up 7:59 off the clock. The drive was finally capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Cory Diaz (4-of-9 passing, 39 yards) to Zack Von Ahnen.

Montini tied it at 7 early in the second quarter before St. Edward went back on top, 14-7, on a 21-yard touchdown run by Mathisen with 1:32 left in the half. Montini needed just three plays before the end of the half to get back within 14-13 after DiCristina hit Goebel on a 20-yard strike.

Quiroga alternated snaps with Diaz at times throughout the game for the first time this season, completing 5 of 7 passes for 53 yards.

Quiroga

WHEATON -- For the second consecutive week, St. Edward hung tough with a big-time Suburban Catholic Conference foe.

And for the second consecutive week, mistakes and turnovers were the difference in a 28-12 loss to St. Francis (6-1, 4-1), the No. 6-ranked team in the Class 5A state poll.

The Green Wave (3-4, 1-4) fumbled three times and had a punt blocked. All but one of those turnovers led to Spartans touchdowns.

"I thought we played our worst half of football all year and we were only down 10," said Wave coach Mike Rolando of his team's 22-12 halftime deficit. "We were running the ball pretty much at will and then we come out and fumble the first series and more bad things happen.

"I was pretty confident coming out of the locker room only down 10. We just couldn't put anything together in the second half."

St. Edward had a chance to grab momentum coming out of the locker room, but a Green Wave fumble on the first play of the second half led to a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Reckards to Brett Robinson, which capped the game's scoring.

St. Edward (62) and St. Francis (89) combined for 151 total yards in the second half.

"It was embarrassing, every aspect of the game -- offense, defense and special teams," Rolando said. "We need to maintain our running game and maintain our composure when bad things happen. We didn't do either of those things. We fell apart."

Moises Quiroga and Jimmy Mathisen combined for 155 yards on 30 carries, just more than 75 percent of the Green Wave offensive attack. St. Edward's two first-half scores came courtesy of a 15-yard Mathisen touchdown run and a Quiroga 2-yard score.

But St. Edward's biggest strength all year -- the running game -- was also its greatest weakness Friday, as the running-back combination coughed up three fumbles.

"In the first half, I thought our running game looked good," Rolando said. "If we don't fumble the ball, I think it's there like every other week. But you also have to be able to throw the ball."

The Green Wave went 4-for-13 and managed just 22 yards passing.

Three of St. Francis' four scores came on plays longer than 10 yards, including two runs longer than 45. The third, what Rolando called "a momentum killer," came on a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown.

St. Edward's Moises Quiroga has been with the team through thick and thin as a four-year varsity starter. But on Friday the senior running back/linebacker was forced to watch St. Edward's 21-12 loss to Driscoll from the sidelines.

Quiroga was knocked out of the Green Wave's game against Marian Central in Week 5 with a concussion. While St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said Quiroga's headaches were gone by Wednesday, keeping him out Friday against the Highlanders was a necessary precaution.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward senior Moises Quiroga (left) missed last week's game against Driscoll after suffering a concussion.
MICHAEL SMART | Staff Photographer

"We need two wins to qualify for the playoffs and (after Friday) have three more games to get them," Rolando said. "We didn't want to play him one game and risk losing him for the next three."

St. Edward did its best to paper over Quiroga's absence. On offense, Jimmy Mathisen and Jordan Torres combined for 211 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns.

"I credit everything to the line," Mathisen said. "They blocked great. It was a big loss not having Moises. But the line stepped up and Jordan Torres stepped up."

Defensively, the Wave held Driscoll to just 259 yards of total offense. The Highlanders only cracked 150 yards rushing because of a long 59-yard TD scamper by Nick Campanella.

Driscoll was held to three-and-out drives three times, fumbled on another drive and got off only a couple plays on its final drive before halftime. The Highlanders didn't move the chains outside of their three scoring drives and the final drive of the game when they needed a first down to run out the clock.

Scrappy St. Edward fall short

Mike Rolando

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ELGIN -- St. Edward wasn't able to prove it could beat the big boys in the Suburban Catholic Conference, but left little doubt Friday that it could compete with them.

The Green Wave remained within striking distance of seven-time defending state champion Driscoll until late in the fourth quarter before falling 21-12.

"I think we played to our full potential this week," St. Edward's Jimmy Mathisen said. "We didn't come out with a win, but we came out and played physical and played the game we were supposed to. We were close, but mental mistakes killed us. Without the mistakes, we're right there."

One such mistake came on defense with St. Edward (3-3, 1-3 SCC) trailing 7-0 coming out of halftime. On the opening drive after the intermission, Driscoll's Nick Campanella broke a 59-yard scoring run to put the Highlanders (5-1, 3-1) ahead 14-0.

Undaunted, the Green Wave answered on the next drive when Mathisen broke off a long run of his own, running straight ahead for 70 yards to bring St. Edward within 14-6 after a failed two-point try.

With Driscoll ahead 21-6 early in the fourth quarter, the Wave would catch a break. St. Edward drove from its own 18-yard line all the way to the Highlanders' 10, but gave up the ball on downs when a Jordan Torres run on fourth-and-three came up inches short.

But the Wave caught a break. St. Edward's defense forced a fumble to reclaim the ball on the Driscoll 12. Torres wouldn't come up short on a 3-yard scoring run to make it 21-12.

The Wave's luck ran out, however, as a player was flagged for a personal foul that backed the PAT attempt up to the 18-yard line. A Cory Diaz pass to Jim Waclawik was batted away. With St. Edward down by two scores, the Highlanders were able to run out the clock.

While Wave players said afterwards they're not satisfied with anything short of a victory, there was a prevailing optimism over putting a scare into Driscoll.

"I'm like a proud father today," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "Just the way we played and overcame adversity. After that big score after halftime, in the past we might have said, 'Driscoll is going to start scoring now,' and given up. This time we played four quarters and played hard.

"I don't think this is a fluke, I think our team is this good. We need to come out and fix a few things and we can continue to keep winning games. We have to win two more to get another shot at a team like this in the playoffs."

Mathisen led all rushers with 166 yards and a score on 25 carries. Torres added 45 yards and his score on nine touches.

ELGIN -- St. Edward was unable to get anything going offensively all night as it lost to Marian Central 28-7 on Friday night at Greg True Field.

The Green Wave (3-2 1-2) struggled to move the ball on the ground, which has been the staple of its offense all season. St. Edward managed only 115 yards rushing on 28 carries, and in all only ran 42 plays from scrimmage.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward's Josh Scholly tries to escape the grasp of two Marian Central players during Friday night's game at Greg True Field in Elgin.
MICHAEL SMART | Staff Photographer

Trailing 14-0 heading into halftime, the Wave had a chance to build some momentum when Josh Scholly picked off an Andrew Stochl pass and returned it 42 yards to the Marian 6-yard line with 18 seconds to go. A 15-yard personal foul penalty pushed St. Edward back, though, and it had to settle for a 35-yard field-goal attempt which was blocked.

"That was a huge play for us at the time," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "We had the ball inside the 10 with a timeout left and a real good chance to build some momentum going into the break, but we just couldn't capitalize.

After withstanding a long Marian drive to open the second half and force a punt, the Green Wave was again unable to cash in on the momentum boost as it botched a hand off on their first play, giving Marian (3-2, 2-1) the ball back on the Wave 33-yard line. Five plays later, a Brandon Smith touchdown extended the Marian lead to 21-0.

St. Edward did manage to get on the board when John Heugh ran for a score from four yards out, plowing through a defender on his way to the end zone and giving the large homecoming crowd a reason to cheer.

"I told coach I wanted the ball and I didn't want to let him down," Heugh said. "I saw the defender coming and was able to go right through him. After that my line got a good push and I was able to get it in the end zone."

Added Rolando: "John stepped up for us tonight. He wanted the ball in his hands and he really willed it in on that touchdown run."

The Green Wave finally managed to move the ball through the air on its final possession as Cory Diaz completed two long third-down passes, but the final drive abruptly ended when Adam Szudarski intercepted Diaz, wrapping up the game.

Jimmy Mathisen led the Wave in rushing with 14 carries for 71 yards, including a big 36-yard run that set up the Heugh touchdown. Along with an interception, Josh Scholly led the Wave in receiving with two grabs for 27 yards, both coming on the Wave's final drive.

Defensively, Jon Godfrey and Ryan Eigenhauser each tallied a sack for St. Edward.

Following the game, the team seemed ready to put this loss behind them.

"When two good football teams match-up, the team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to come out on top, and we just made way too many costly mistakes tonight," Rolando said. "But we'll work on those things in practice this week and come out ready to go next week.

Added Heugh: "This was just one game. We just need to get back at in practice this week. We need two more wins to make the playoffs and it starts with Driscoll next week."

AURORA -- After suffering its first loss of the season last week, St. Edward got back to what it does best on Friday night -- running the football.

The Green Wave racked up 487 yards on the ground in a 42-7 rout over Aurora Central Catholic in Suburban Catholic Conference action. Jimmy Mathisen led a trio of St. Edward rushers who went over the 100-yard mark. Mathisen finished with 167 yards on 11 carries, including one touchdown.

» Click to enlarge image

Mathisen

David Hoebbel had 132 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Moises Quiroga also had a pair of touchdowns and rumbled for 111 yards.

"You have to give credit to our guys up front and my coaching staff," said St. Edward coach Mike Rolando. "We put everything on our offensive line this week, and we have a great coaching staff. They really did an excellent job of getting them back on track and focused."

St. Edward (3-1, 1-1) scored on its first three possessions of the game to build a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter. An interception by Allen Gilles gave the Wave the ball at the ACC 36-yard line to set up the first touchdown, an 11-yard run by Quiroga.

Quarterback Corey Diaz hit Jim Waclawik on a 19-yard slant over the middle for the Wave's second score of the game. Hoebbel accounted for 60 yards on the Wave's third scoring drive and finished it off with a 1-yard touchdown run.

"It was a big difference from a week ago," said Rolando. "That's what we wanted to see. The kids were doubting themselves, but they bounced back and stepped up to the challenge."

Mathisen opened the scoring in the second half with a 10-yard touchdown run on the Wave's first possession.

"Our line really bounced back this week," said Mathisen. "We really owe it all to them, they did a great job."

Quiroga added a 54-yard touchdown scamper later in the third quarter. Hoebbel's 55-yard TD run put the Wave up 42-0.

ACC (0-4, 0-2) spoiled a shutout in the final seconds, but the Green Wave defense did a great job all night of holding Chargers quarterback Mike Adams in check. Adams came in completing 69 percent of his passes, and had thrown for 483 yards in his first three games. The Wave held him to 14 of 28 for 133 yards.

Adams completed a 20-yard scoring strike to Matt Wagner in the closing minute of the game.

St. Edward manages 68 yards of offense

ELMHURST -- Torrential rain wasn't the only thing falling from the sky on Saturday.

The proverbial thud heard at Elmhurst was St. Edward crashing back to earth off of cloud nine.

The Wave opened the season with a pair of impressive non-conference wins, but Saturday dropped its Suburban Catholic Conference opener 22-0 to Immaculate Conception.

Because of the rain the contest was moved from IC to Elmhurst College where there is artificial turf.

It didn't matter for the Wave, which never got its offensive on track.

St. Edward turned the ball over twice -- once on an interception and once on a fumble -- and also put the ball on the ground four other times, which contributed to stalled drives.

"Our performance today comes hand in hand with a terrible week of practice," Green Wave coach Mike Rolando said. "We had no focus at practice all week and that carried right over to the game. We completely lacked any concentration."

St. Edward did not complete a pass and managed just 68 yards on the ground.

"We can't blame the weather," Rolando said. "We are a running team so this should play right into our hands. It wasn't a great day, but the weather didn't stop us from running any of our plays.

"We just didn't take care of the ball. No matter what the weather conditions are you have to be ready to play. The other team has to play in the same stuff. They were ready. We weren't."

IC (2-1) splished and splashed its way to 249 rushing yards. The Knights scored on drives of 60 and 70 yards in the first half and led 16-0 at the break.

The Green Wave (2-1) had its best scoring opportunity after recovering a fumble at the IC 21-yard line with 32 seconds left in the first half. But, it could only advance the ball down to the Knights' 9-yard line before time expired.

St. Edward's offense came to a complete halt in the second half. The Wave went the entire half without converting a first down and had just 11 yards of offense.

IC put the game out of reach with a 16-play touchdown drive that took nearly 10 minutes off the clock late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.

Jimmy Mathisen led the Wave with 33 yards rushing on 12 carries. Imm. Conception 22, St. Edward 0

St. Edward strong up front

St. Edward's offensive line (left) has made major strides in the past three seasons and is a major reason why the Green Wave stands 2-0 this year.
(Michael Smart/Courier News)

But allow the fourth-year varsity member to reflect on the past two weeks and you can tell by his mood that times have changed.

"It feels amazing to punish people like we've been punished for the past three years," the Green Wave tight end said. "There is just an immense difference for us. We're so much better."

Consider this: Last week's 48-0 trouncing of Kirkland Hiawatha pushed St. Edward to 2-0 this season. That doubled the program's victory total from 2005-07.

A major reason for the first two wins as the Wave heads into Suburban Catholic Conference play is the development of the offensive line. The unit has literally grown into its role as a force for opponents to try and handle.

Senior center Matt Johnson (5-foot-10, 240 pounds), junior left guard Shane Finnane (6-0, 240), senior right guard Andrew Richmond (6-0, 180), senior left tackle Joe Juns (6-5, 305), junior right tackle Rich Budish (6-0, 245) and senior tight ends Ryan Eigenhauser (6-1, 200) and Waclawik (6-2, 190) have dominated in wins against Hampshire and Hiawatha. Juniors Kevin Lawson (6-0, 230) and Zack Von Ahnen (6-5, 210) have also contributed up front.

Gone are the days of these players being manhandled as undersized underclassmen. Dedication to weight lifting and to each other have produced results.

"What we thought we were seeing in the weight room has built confidence and made things happen on the field," fourth-year Wave coach Mike Rolando said. "We finally have seniors and juniors who know what this is all about. They know they can compete."

And find success. In a 15-7 season-opening victory at Hampshire the Green Wave averaged 4.3 yards per rushing attempt against an always formidable Hampshire defense. St. Edward then steamrolled its way for 253 rushing yards against overmatched Kirkland.

"The holes have been huge. You could drive a semi through there," said Wave senior fullback Moises Quiroga, who along with running back Jimmy Mathisen has benefitted the most from the improved O-line. "Me and Jimmy have a lot of respect for those guys."

It's been a work in process. Most of the players on that unit have taken beatings for the past two to three years.

"I remember when we had 17 guys on the varsity when I was a freshman," Waclawik said. "After the first half of the first game against Hampshire (in 2005) we were down by like 30 and I knew then that we were going to get pummeled for the rest of the year."

Not anymore. At least so far.

Rolando points to Finnane, a workout fanatic who is drawing Division I interest, as a main catalyst. Finnane's father supervises the weight room and that includes his son's daily routine.

"He has a phenomenal work ethic," Rolando says of Finnane. "Thanksgiving, Christmas, it doesn't matter. He's in there working out."

It's like that for most of the Wave's offensive front. They've grown in stature as the years have endured.

"We know we can actually compete going into games now," Quiroga said. "There's no more strong side or weak side with our line. I'd put these guys up against anybody."

With the meat grinder of a schedule the SCC provides, St. Edward will find out just how far it's come in future weeks.

"We've just built more and more confidence," said Waclawik, who's added 3 inches and 45 pounds since his ninth-grade year. "It's like a brotherhood for the linemen. I think it motivates each guy to see what the others have done and how far we've come."

St. Edward (2-0) at Immaculate Conception (1-1)

When: Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jack Lewis Stadium

Last year: IC 21, St. Edward 20

Last week: St. Edward 48, Hiawatha 0; IC. 25, Walther Lutheran 7

Outlook: It's been a somber week for the St. Edward family following the passing of Richard Budish III, 45, the father of junior guard Rich Budish IV. The team canceled practice Wednesday to attend the wake and supported the Budish family at the funeral on Thursday morning. "This is far more important than football for our football family and we'll do what we can to help the Budish family," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "This crew has been through a lot together the last three years. I know they'll want to boost Rich's spirits with a win and keep the ball rolling." From a football perspective, the Green Wave still have much to prove despite starting 2-0 for the first time since 2002. The Suburban Catholic Conference tests begin Saturday afternoon with the league opener in Elmhurst. The Wave is led offensively by the 1-2 punch of fullback Moises Quiroga (17 carries, 159 yards, 2 TDs) and Jimmy Mathisen (27-140, 4 TDs). The Knights have some strong offensive linemen in Robert Peachy (6-0, 205), Matt Purdom (6-5, 260), Robert Rivera (6-2, 290) and Marco Medina (5-10, 255). They paved the way for fullback Carlos Rodriguez and tailback Paul Hornstra to combine for 304 of IC's 367 rushing yards last week against Walther Lutheran. The Knights haven't lost to the Green Wave since 2003, but they aren't taking their old rivals lightly. "If people don't take St. Edward seriously this year they're gonna get beat," IC coach Bill Schmidt said. "They're a good football team and they're 2-0 for a reason. They're trying to turn the corner this season and we're happy to be the first (SCC team) to play them. We're excited about the challenge and wouldn't want it any other way."

Last Year: Immaculate Conception 21,St. Edward 20

Last Week: St. Edward 48, Kirkland Hiawatha 0; Immaculate Conception 25, Walther Lutheran 7

Resurgent Green Wave swamps Hiawatha

St. Edward's Jim Waclawik (33) tries to stand his ground as Kirkland Hiawatha defenders attempt to take him down.
(Patrick Gleason/For the Sun-Times News Group)

Not only did the school flip the switch on its permanent new lights for the first time on Saturday night, but winning is starting to become more of the norm for the Green Wave rather than the exception to the rule.

St. Edward opened its new era of enlightenment with a 48-0 trouncing of Kirkland-Hiawatha to begin the year 2-0 for the first time since the 2002 season.

"This is a great day for the St. Edward community," Green Wave coach Mike Rolando said. "The boosters, alumni and fans all pulled together to make a special night happen. We've been through some lean years, but with the new lights and the 2-0 start, there is a real feeling of excitement around here."

From the very start on Saturday, everything went right for St. Edward.

Kirkland fumbled away the ball on the first play of the game and Jon Godfrey recovered for the Green Wave. St. Edward then scored on its first play from scrimmage when Moises Quiroga ran it in from 16 yards out.

Kirkland (1-1) then turned the ball over on its next two possessions to set up two more St. Edward touchdowns. Nathan Gaige had a fumble recovery at the Kirkland 21-yard line, which led to a 17-yard run by David Hoebbel. Jimmy Mathisen then scored on a 19-yard run, following a Gaige interception, to put the Green Wave up 21-0 by the end of the first quarter.

"It was good to see us get some takeaways," Rolando said. "We preach turnovers all the time. Our kids fly to the ball and good things happen when you get to the ball."

The rout continued in the second quarter as St. Edward added a six-yard touchdown run by John Heugh and a 47-yard touchdown run by Quiroga, who finished with 84 yards on seven carries.

"It's great to see our team make some news for doing something positive," Quiroga said. "Usually it's for something not so good. This should give us a lot of confidence and hopefully we can keep adding on some wins."

Hoebbel returned the opening kick of the second half 77 yards to the Kirkland 15-yard line to set up a 15-yard TD run by Mathisen with 11:33 left in the third quarter. That put St. Edward up 41-0 and started a mercy-rule running clock the rest of the way.

Quarterback Cory Diaz added a two-yard touchdown run later in the quarter.

Godfrey, the Green Wave's nose guard, led a defense that held Kirkland to just 58 yards of total offense. St. Edward's defense gave the offense the ball inside of Kirkland territory on every possession except two.

"This feels amazing," Godfrey said. "We've worked so hard for this. Tonight, we just came out and dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball."

Last Year: Did not play

Last Week: Kirkland Hiawatha 45, Luther North 14; St. Edward 15, Hampshire 7

Scouting

With one look at St. Edward's varsity football team, it becomes clear the 2008 Green Wave is bigger and stronger than years past.

But the biggest key to St. Edward's 15-7 win against Hampshire in Friday's season opener was arguably the Wave's newfound depth.

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward's Jon Godfrey (right) tries to get away from Hampshire's James Goebbert (left) and Ron Laramie on Friday.
(Michael Smart/Staff Photographer)

At no point was that depth more critical than when senior running back/linebacker Moises Quiroga came out of the game early in the second quarter with a left knee injury. St. Edward led 6-0 at the time, but the loss of a four-year varsity member and leader on both sides of the ball seemed ominous.

However, any worries were quickly put to rest by the play of junior Jordan Torres, who stepped up in Quiroga's absence on offense and defense. When the Wave regained possession for the first time after Quiroga's departure, Torres took off for a critical 33-yard run on his first carry of the game. That play set up Torres' 24-yard field goal shortly before halftime, giving St. Edward a 9-0 advantage at the break.

Quiroga did return in the second half, but he didn't mind sharing time with Torres the rest of the night.

"When I go down, it's great to know we have players who are able to step right in," Quiroga said.

The Wave has only 27 players on its varsity roster, but many of those players are capable of carrying a heavy load. The extra able bodies are welcome for a program that was often undermanned and undersized while struggling to a 1-26 record the past three years.

"That's the key this year, we get guys off the field," Rolando said. "We've got guys that play one way. You see five of our six offensive linemen sitting on the bench (when the defense is on the field) drinking water and we get to talk to them."

Green Wave crashes party

Hampshire's Ron Laramie (31) gets stacked up by St. Edward's Moises Quiroga (top left) and Ryan Eigenhauser (right) along with others during Friday night's game at Hampshire.
(Michael Smart/Staff Photographer)

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HAMPSHIRE -- Consider the rebuilding process complete.

After three years of minor gains and moral victories, St. Edward broke through for its biggest accomplishment under coach Mike Rolando, knocking off Hampshire 15-7 on Friday in the season opener for both teams.

Behind a stout defensive effort and an effective ground attack, the Green Wave managed to control the game for much of the night, spoiling the first-ever contest played on the Whip-Purs' new field.

The victory marks the first time since 2002 that St. Edward won its season opener, and it also represents a watershed moment for a program that struggled to a 1-26 record over the past three years since Rolando took over as head coach.

"This is four years of hard work and rebuilding," Rolando said. "We set some goals four years ago and this is what we wanted to get to."

Leading 9-0 at halftime, the Wave added a critical touchdown early in the third quarter thanks in large part to a Hampshire miscue.

Facing third-and-20 from the Hampshire 4-yard line, Whips starting quarterback Evan Brenner came out of the game and was replaced by Ryan Burke for one play. The move backfired as a botched snap was recovered by the Green Wave.

Two plays later, St. Edward senior Jimmy Mathisen scampered into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night to put the Green Wave ahead 15-0 with 8:05 left in the third.

Hampshire pulled within 15-7 when Joe Moore scored on a 1-yard run with 6:01 left in the game. The Whips regained possession with 1:11 left when an interception ended St. Edward's ensuing drive after 11 plays, but Hampshire's hopes ran out after three straight passes fell incomplete.

St. Edward received strong play from its defensive linemen all night, with Jim Waclawik and Daniel Duffy recording sacks in the first half. The Wave held Hampshire to 165 total yards. St. Edward's offense managed only 197 yards against Hampshire.

"That's a very good ballclub, which is not a surprise," Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said of St. Edward. "It was a battle last year and it was a battle this year."

Brenner led Hampshire on the ground, running for 53 yards on 16 carries. Mathisen paced St. Edward with 81 yards on 22 carries.

St. Edward running back/linebacker Moises Quiroga left the game in the first half with an injured left knee. However, he returned in the second half and finished with 52 yards on eight carries and was in the thick of the celebration following the game.

"Winning this first game is going to be a great confidence boost for the whole season," Quiroga said. "All we wanted to do was come out and execute, and we did that."

Whip-Purs prepared to unveil new stadium against Green Wave

Put two hungry teams together on a football field, add in the elements of a local rivalry and the excitement of opening night, then top it off with the electric atmosphere that surrounds the first game at a brand-new stadium.

» Click to enlarge image

Hampshire's James Goebbert (right) and St. Edward's Jimmy Mathisen likely will meet again tonight in the season-opening game for both teams at the Whip-Purs' new stadium.
(Courier File)

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St. Edward at Hampshire

Last year : Hampshire 46, St. Edward 41

Erik Jacobsen's pick: Hampshire

ERIK JACOBSEN'S RECORD

Last year: 86-28

2006: 89-27

• Online: Erik Jacobsen explains his picks on Courier News Prep Football Weekly webcast at

This marks the 10th straight year that the Whip-Purs and Green Wave will meet in the season opener. Hampshire's won eight of the previous nine meetings, including five in a row. But if last year's 46-41 thriller is any indicator, the one-sided nature of the rivalry might be nearing an end.

With nine starters returning on both sides of the ball, St. Edward would like nothing more than to spoil the fun for the Whip-Purs, who enter the season still smarting from the disappointment of missing out on the postseason in 2007 despite compiling a 5-4 record.

A good way to put that disappointment in the past would be to start the 2008 campaign with a win, but the Whips are well aware that won't be easy.

"St. Ed's is a good, tough football team," Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said. "Every year we have a good battle with them, so we're looking forward to a good, tough game."

St. Edward is coming off a 1-8 season in 2007 that saw the program capture its first win in three years under coach Mike Rolando. With players a year older and a year stronger after an offseason filled with weight lifting and conditioning, the expectation is that more success will follow.

"A key for our season is to get a victory early so the guys feel they can compete," Rolando said. "There's never an easy week for us, so we've got to come out and play strong and look good against Hampshire."

Last year's meeting between the teams was tied at halftime and again at the end of three quarters. A number of key players from that game return, including Hampshire senior running back Joe Moore and St. Edward senior running back Jimmy Mathisen, both of whom ran for a pair of touchdowns in last year's game.

Both the Whips and Wave turn to new quarterbacks this year as senior Cory Diaz takes over for St. Edward after playing receiver the past two years and senior Evan Brenner assumes signal calling duties for Hampshire after seeing time on defense and in the offensive backfield last year.

Cavanaugh said his team's focus won't so much be on St. Edward as it will be on executing its game plan. Rolando pointed out that Hampshire's traditional ground attack will likely limit his team's number of possessions, so cutting down on mistakes will be a key for the Wave. He added that another key will be dealing with the extra adrenaline that's expected to be flowing.

"(Hampshire's) kids are going to be on cloud nine with all the crowd they'll have (for the first game at the new field)," Rolando said. "There will be a lot of excitement and enthusiasm on their sideline, so we'll have to match that and play under control."

For the first time in several seasons the St. Edward football team actually looks the part.

Gone are the days of underclassmen looking up to bigger opponents. This version of Green Wave football could measure up to the competition.

» Click to enlarge image

Senior fullback/linebacker Moises Quiroga is back for his fourth season as a starter for the Green Wave.
(Marina Makropoulos/Staff Photographer)

» Click to enlarge image

Mike Rolando (left) and Jimmy Mathisen

» Click to enlarge image

Cory Diaz (left) and Ryan Eigenhauser

St. Edward Green Wave

• 2007 record: 1-8

• Coach: Mike Rolando (1-26 in 4th season)

"This team has experience and they believe they can win football games," said fourth-year Wave coach Mike Rolando. "We don't know if we're there yet, but they are carrying themselves with confidence."

You might ask how a program that has lost 28 of its past 29 games could come across so self-assured. Well, the offensive line averages about 250 pounds per player and the squad returns nine starters on offense and nine starters on defense.

Leading the way is four-year varsity performer Moises Quiroga, a 5-foot-11, 225-pound fullback/middle linebacker whom Rolando says "is a luxury to have on the field." Quiroga is a returning All-Area linebacker who made a team-best 75 tackles while gaining 602 yards rushing with seven touchdowns.

Quiroga will be joined in the backfield by senior Jimmy Mathisen (5-8, 185), who was a major contributor last season before injuring his knee in the fifth game and never returning. Senior John Heugh (5-9, 170) will see time at wing back.

Senior center Matt Johnson (5-10, 240), senior right guard Andrew Richmond (6-0, 180), junior right tackle Rich Budish (6-0, 245), junior left guard Shane Finnane (6-0, 240) and senior left tackle Joe Juns (6-5, 305) will create room for the playmakers. Senior tight ends Jim Waclawik (6-2, 190) and Ryan Eigenhauser (6-1, 200) should also contribute.

The question during the offseason was who would replace three-year starting quarterback Ryan Gilbert. Rolando believes he has the answer in senior Cory Diaz (6-1, 180). Diaz played QB as a freshman before enjoying success as a receiver.

"Cory has earned the kids' respect and he's earned the coaching staff's respect by what he's done in practice," said Rolando.

Quiroga anchors a defense that was susceptible to the big play last season. With Mathisen back at safety along with senior Adam Gilles (6-2, 160), the secondary could be improved. Finnane is back at a defensive tackle position and junior outside linebacker Nathan Gaige (5-10, 190) will provide stability.

"We made a lot of key mistakes that winning teams don't make," Rolando said of 2007's 1-8 record. "But these kids have dedicated themselves to football."

Green Wave claims victory

ELGIN -- The word heart kept passing through the lips of St. Edward players and echoing across Greg True Field on Friday night.

The Green Wave showed plenty of it with a 28-26 overtime win against St. Francis in Suburban Catholic Conference play.

For St. Edward, it snapped a school-record 26-game losing streak. But more than just ending the victory drought, it validated the efforts of the players that endured almost three winless years.

The last time St. Edward (1-6, 1-4) collected a victory was a 45-14 rout of Aurora Central Catholic on Oct. 8, 2004.

The Green Wave broke into the win column in gutsy fashion.

After overcoming an eight-point halftime deficit to take the game into overtime, St. Edward owned the first possession of the extra period.

Facing fourth down from the 1-yard line, Moises Quiroga rumbled off left tackle into the end zone to put the Green Wave ahead 26-20.

That was when St. Edward coach Mike Rolando elected to make the bold decision to go for the two-point conversion. While that has been a move that's backfired on the Wave this season, Rolando thought it was an easy call.

"I don't think there's a better way to call it," he said. "You have to put the pressure on the other team. They elected to play defense first so they'd know what they had to do. The only way to put the pressure back on them is to get two points."

The Wave did it with quarterback Ryan Gilbert rolling out and tossing a pass to Quiroga in the right side of the end zone.

"To be honest, I was scared and nervous," said Quiroga, who rushed 16 times for a team-high 62 yards. "Coach called for a playmaker, and I was it on that two-point conversion."

St. Francis (2-5, 1-4) used three plays to score in its half of the overtime, but couldn't force a second extra frame when Ryan O'Donnell was stopped short of the goal line by barely more than a foot.

"It's just amazing that we pulled that off," Ardiente said. "I didn't think we were going to pull it off, but my brothers picked me up and we achieved it. We got the 'W.' "

Many in the homecoming crowd might have doubted the Green Wave could pull it off after falling behind 14-0 by the midpoint of the second quarter. O'Donnell broke a 33-yard scoring run in the first and a St. Edward fumble helped set up a scoring toss from Spartans QB Jeff Reckards to Bob Vondehaar.

Vondehaar had his way going against St. Edward cornerback Josh Scholly with the scoring toss and another long pass play in the second quarter, but Scholly would get his revenge on the other side of the ball.

Gilbert capped a 38-yard, second-quarter Wave scoring drive with a 1-yard run. A blocked kick left St. Edward trailing 14-6 at halftime.

The Green Wave quarterback engineered a 15-play, 69-yard drive, finished off by a 13-yard scoring toss to Cory Diaz with 28 seconds left in the third quarter.

For the night, Gilbert connected on 11 of 19 passes for 111 yards.

"Ryan Gilbert played an incredible second half," Rolando said. "He was there in the spotlight, feeling the pressure and making plays."

St. Francis went back ahead when O'Donnell returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a score.

However, St. Edward mounted another long drive -- this time 11 plays and 75 yards.

Quiroga broke a 25 yard run to put the Wave on the Spartan 20-yard line. From there, Gilbert threw a pass to Scholly for the final scoring play of regulation.

Jordan Torres' missed PAT kick made the extra period a necessity, but once in overtime the Wave never wavered.

"It was heart and dedication," said Quiroga, echoing the sentiment shared by his teammates. "We just wanted it. They wanted it too, but in the end only one team can win and we pulled it out."

St. Edward's Mat Ardiente, right, breaks a tackle and looks for more Friday night during the Green Wave's VICTORY over St. Francis at Greg True Field in Elgin.

George LeClaire | Staff Photographer

 

One play stood between St. Edward and its first victory since Oct. 8, 2004.

St. Francis running back Stan Bobowski had just scored on a 2-yard run in overtime to pull visiting St. Francis within 28-26.

Forced to attempt the 2-point conversion to forge a tie, the Spartans pitched the ball left to running back Mark Kachmer. But the junior was met at the 2-yard line by four Green Wave defenders, led by Moises Quiroga and Nevin Bens, and stopped short of the goal line.

With that tackle three years of frustration evaporated into the muggy autumn night. The entire student section huddled around Greg True Field -- extra large on St. Edward's homecoming night -- stormed the field to celebrate the end of the school's record 26-game losing streak.

Grown men wept. Players were lifted onto fans' shoulders. Everyone got hugged.

The streak was finally dead.

"I will never forget this day my whole life, especially on homecoming" said Green Wave quarterback Ryan Gilbert. "This is just amazing. It's the best feeling. We waited too long for this."

Gilbert was a big reason St. Edward (1-6, 1-4 Suburban Catholic) was able to overcome its 14-6 halftime deficit. He completed a pass to Josh Scholly on fourth down to keep a third-quarter drive alive. Seven plays later he launched a perfect pass to Cory Diaz in the corner of the end zone to pull the Wave within 14-12 with 28 seconds left in the third period.

Gilbert then tied the game with a 2-point bootleg keeper.

But the Spartans (2-5, 1-4) roared back on the next play when junior Ryan O'Donnell returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown.

"We were putting in all the effort we could," O'Donnell said. "It was just great to be in one of these great high school games. It was a fun game, but it's a very, very tough loss. We were all working so hard out there, giving it our hearts."

The Spartans missed the extra-point kick wide to the right, however, leaving the score 20-14.

Two possessions later St. Edward drove 75 yards in 11 plays, a march capped by a great adjustment from Scholly, who reached back to snare an underthrown ball from Gilbert for a 20-yard touchdown with 4:21 remaining in regulation time.

However, St. Edward had its extra point try blocked for the second time on the night, leaving the score knotted 20-20.

St. Edward got the ball first in overtime and scored on Quiroga's 1-yard plunge on fourth-and-goal. But the bigger play came next.

Due to his teams' kicking difficulties, Green Wave coach Mike Rolando elected to fake the kick in favor of a rollout option. Gilbert, the holder, placed the ball down, rolled right, pumped once, then threw an accurate strike on the run to Quiroga to give St. Edward its first lead at 28-20.

"We'd had enough trouble with those today," Rolando said of the failed extra points. "They were coming so aggressively, jumping right over our center. So we figured (the pass) had to be open.

"This win is about Matt Ardiente, Nevin Bens, Ryan Gilbert -- our seniors. It's about getting that monkey off their backs to show everybody how good they really are."

St. Francis could only tip its collective hat.

"I'm very happy for them snapping their streak," St. Francis coach Greg Purnell said. "I feel very bad for our kids. They played better than us, they tackled better, they blocked better. They deserved to win."

Driscoll made one of the oldest cliches in all of sports a reality Friday night in Addison against St. Edward as the defending state champion Highlanders won the football game 42-16.

Close till kickoff.

The Green Wave received the opening kickoff and fumbled 3 plays later, setting up an Austin Baker 17-yard touchdown reception from Dave Schwabe with 10:28 remaining in the first quarter.

Less than two minutes later, St. Edward fumbled again on a pitch and Driscoll's Tim Franken took a handoff and bounced it to the outside and went in for a 58-yard touchdown run.

The Highlanders scored two touchdowns on their first three offensive plays of the game.

"Last week we had some letdowns and didn't do what we needed to do," Franken said. "This was our homecoming game and we wanted to go out and play Driscoll football. We did that tonight on both sides of the ball. We are pretty satisfied with how we played, but we can still play better."

Later in the first quarter Driscoll once again scored touchdowns in very fast fashion as it put up 14 points in a 2:40 span.

Schwabe scored on a quarterback keeper around the left side for a 39-yard score, and then Franken caught a 7-yard strike from Schwabe with five seconds remaining in the first quarter.

In that first quarter the Highlanders put 28 points up on the board in just 13 plays.

"We came out thinking that we can play with them," St. Edward's Moises Quiroga said. "After the first series it looked like some of us were scared to be playing against a six-time defending state champion. We already thought we were beat before we stepped onto the field."

Midway through the third period Ricky Divito scored on a 19-yard pass from Steve Schwabe to put Driscoll up 42-0, forcing the running clock into effect.

"In five of the six games this season, we have been able to give our starters some nice rest time because they have played well in the first half and built big leads," Driscoll coach Mike Burzawa said. "We wanted to come out and execute and feed off the homecoming momentum and we did."

The Green Wave, which lost for the 25th straight time, was able to make the game closer by Quiroga scoring on an 85-yard kickoff return and then recovering an onside kick and scoring on a Ryan Gilbert keeper and once again converting on the 2-point conversion.

Even though the game looked lopsided, St. Edward still came away with a confidence boost. Despite an 0-6 record and 0-4 in conference, three of the losses were by a combined 8 points.

"The 16 points we put up tonight were not a fluke," Quiroga said. "We played really tough against Marian earlier this season. And the 42 points they put up was a little confusing. They didn't play that well to put up that many points on us tonight."

Franken played one half and had 149 yards on 7 carries and 3 touchdowns.

Quiroga and Jimmy Mathisen combined for 93 yards on 20 carries in the loss.

ADDISON -- When you have been struggling like St. Edward has the last few years, you need to look for some bright spots.

The Green Wave had some in a 42-16 loss to unbeaten Driscoll Friday night in Suburban Catholic Conference play.

A late second-half charge featured two straight Green Wave touchdowns and two-point conversions, including Moises Quiroga's 81-yard kickoff return for a TD. The rally had players and coaches excited after the game.

The second-half surge may have been triggered by multiple halftime speeches from St. Edward players with the Green Wave down 35-0, including a very vocal one by sophomore lineman Shane Finnane.

"I was just trying to influence my team," Finnane said. "Everybody was down. I was trying to help us out.

"In the second half, we just started playing football like we could."

After Quiroga's kickoff return and a two-point conversion pass from quarterback Ryan Gilbert to Cory Diaz, St. Edward successfully covered an onside kick when Jim Waclawik snared the ball after it struck a Driscoll player.

Five plays later, a 2-yard TD run by Gilbert and then a second two-point conversion pass from Gilbert to Diaz made it 42-16.

Running back Jimmy Mathisen had 10 carries for 46 yards. Quiroga had 13 carries for 51 yards and Gilbert was 4 of 11 passing for 41 yards with two interceptions.

Driscoll (6-0, 4-0) led 28-0 after one quarter en route to its 13th straight win over the Green Wave, which has now lost 26 straight games overall. Three of Driscoll's TDs came from Tim Franken, who rushed for 141 yards in the first half.

St. Edward did itself no favors, fumbling five times in the first half and losing three.

The Green Wave (0-6, 0-4) also had two more injuries in the game. Mathisen left with a knee injury, and later in the game linebacker Alex Arciuch was sidelined with a concussion. Defensive back Adam Gilles was already in the hospital due to a hit he took in practice.

"In the first half, there was nothing -- from turnovers to injuries. At halftime we had some people step up and be leaders," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "They were determined to avoid the shutout and we executed in the second half.

"So there are some positives there, but obviously we're also really concerned about our injured guys."

At the end of the game, coaches and players from both teams engaged in a prolonged verbal exchange. Rolando had no comment on it, but said he was proud of his players and the way they handled themselves.

Marian Central 30, St. Edward 0: Unfortunately, in 2007, St. Edward's success on the football field can't be measured with victories.

Despite, playing Marian Central, the top ranked team in Class 5A tough for a half, the Green Wave fell to the Hurricanes 30-0 in a Suburban Catholic Conference game at Marian Central Friday night.

It was the 25th straight loss for the Green Wave (0-5, 0-3) while the top ranked Hurricanes are 5-0 overall and 3-0 in SCC play.

St. Edward played right with the powerful Hurricanes in the first half.

The Green Wave defense held Marian Central to only 10 points during the first 24 minutes.

Marian Central didn't get on the scoreboard until the 4:42 mark of the first quarter when TJ Pappas reached paydirt from 8 yards out.

Alec Grazier's kick gave Marian a 7-0 lead.

The Hurricanes' only other points came on a 26-yard field goal by Grazier with 5:22 remaining in the first half as Marian Central held a 10-0 advantage at halftime.

"We have had a lot of lapses on defense this season, but the kids played a great first half," said St Edward coach Mike Rolando. "We threw a bunch of sophomores out there and they did a great job. "

Marian Central, which threw 16 times in the first half, abandoned the passing game on the first drive of the second half.

Chewing up 7 minutes and 18 seconds, The Hurricanes marched 82 yards in 15 plays For a touchdown. The drive comprised of 12 runs and 3 passes as Pappas scored from 1 yard out with 4:42 remaining. The kick by Grazier was good and the Hurricanes led 17-0.

"We didn't pound the ball enough in the first half," said Marian Central coach Ed Brucker. "We wanted to come out in the second half and establish the Run and play smash mouth football. That first drive was very important We were very patient."

The Hurricanes did score their final 2 TDs via the airwaves. Andrew Stochl, subbing for the injured Jonathan Budmayr, tossed a 6-yard TD to Erik Reibel and threw a 23-yard touchdown strike to Jordan Peart.

Stochl ended the game, completing 16-of-24 passes for 219 passes and 2 scores with 1 Interception by St Edward defensive back Josh Scholly. Peart caught 9 passes for 114 yards and a score for the winners.

St. Edward, which didn't have any passing yardage, managed 102 yards on the ground.

Jimmy Mathisen paced the Green Wave with 33 yards on 9 carries as the visitors from Elgin could only pick up 6 first downs.

WOODSTOCK -- Despite a solid defensive showing in the first half, St. Edward was unable to establish anything offensively in a 30-0 Suburban Catholic Conference loss to Marian Central on Friday night.

Marian (5-0, 3-0) came into the game ranked No. 1 in the Class 5A state poll, but led only 10-0 heading into halftime.

Without injured starting quarterback Jon Budmayr, Marian struggled to gain any significant yardage through the air, instead pounding away at the undersized Green Wave (0-5, 0-3) with its running game.

"It was good to see the defense cover well tonight, but you hate to see the offense struggle like it did," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "We just can't have that."

The Hurricanes opened the scoring when Thomas Pappas took one in from 8 yards out midway through the first quarter. Alec Grazier tacked on a field goal on the first play of the second quarter to make it 10-0.

The game then turned into a battle for field position. The Wave forced an interception and a punt on the next two Hurricane possessions and also saw Ryan Gilbert boot a 52-yard punt to pin Marian deep in its own territory.

The Wave, however, was unable to capitalize.

The Hurricanes took the opening kickoff of the second half, and ran the perfect ball-control offense with a 15-play drive spanning over seven minutes. The drive was finished off with a 1-yard Pappas run.

Nevin Bens returned the ensuing kickoff to the Marian 46, giving the Green Wave its best field position of the night. Then on the first play, Gilbert took a quarterback keeper 20 yards right up the middle.

The drive stalled there, however, and the Wave eventually turned it over on downs.

A pair of fourth-quarter touchdown strikes by Andrew Stochl to Erik Reibel and Jordan Peart rounded out the scoring for the Hurricanes, who shut out their opponent for the third straight week.

The Wave face yet another top-ranked team in Driscoll next week when its hopes to snap what is now a school-record 25-game losing streak.

St. Edward (0-4, 0-2) at Marian Central (4-0, 2-0)

When: 7:30 p.m. today at George Harding Field

Last week: Immaculate Conception 21, St. Edward 20; Marian Central 35, Marmion 0

Last year: Marian Central 61, St. Edward 0

Outlook: It will be a monumental upset if St. Edward snaps its 24-game losing streak against the Hurricanes, the No. 1 team in Class 5A, but these hard-working players from St. Edwrd aren't as easy to knock off as they were a year ago. The Green Wave is winless, but three of those losses have come by 8 combined points. It would be very easy for Marian Central to look past this game based on last year's result alone. "I hope they look at last year's score and think this is last year's team," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "Our kids have confidence they can play with teams. The last couple of years it was more a deer-in-the-headlights thing, but now they know they're a good team. Our kids feel they can play with them. They still feel they haven't shown how good they are and they're smart enough to know we're better than our record shows. We've been one play away from beating three teams. We have to wear their big boys down and use our size and speed to our advantage." Wear Marian's big boys down? Consider this: Marian dressed 22 players last weekend at Marmion. St. Edward's roster consists of 26 players. However, none of those players is of the caliber of Marian offensive tackle Sean Cwynar (6-4, 284), who is verbally committed to Notre Dame. He paves the way for Marian running back T.J. Pappas, who has 272 yards and 4 touchdowns. Hurricanes quarterback Jon Budmayr will miss this game with an injury. His understudy is junior Andy Stochl, who presents his own problems. "In my opinion (Stochl) is a better runner than Budmayr," Rolando said. "And he can throw the ball 60 yards in the air."

Immaculate Conception 21, St. Edward 20: The decision was easy. The result was a historic loss.

St. Edward's 2-point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter Friday night was stuffed as Immaculate Conception handed the Green Wave their school-record 24th consecutive loss with a 21-20 victory in Elgin.

"We felt like we could win the game," St. Edward senior Matt Ardiente said. "It was a decision as a team. We just went for it. We believed we could get it but came up short."

The Green Wave (0-4, 0-2 Suburban Catholic) scored with 1:40 remaining in the fourth quarter on Ardiente's 35-yard run around right end. St. Edward called timeout and coach Mike Rolando said the decision was unanimous -- go for the victory.

Senior fullback Moises Quiroga took a toss right but was stood up by several Immaculate Conception defenders at the 2-yard line.

"The team, even after the game, said we had to try it. The coaches said we had to try it," Rolando said. "We wanted to go for the win."

"We knew they were going to go for it," Knights coach Bill Schmidt said. "Someone has to make a play or you're going to go home with a 'L.' We made one more play than they did."

The Knights (2-2, 1-1) recovered the onside kick and kneeled three times to leave with the victory despite only earning 6 first downs.

St. Edward has not won since Week 7 of the 2004 season, a 45-14 victory over Aurora Central Catholic.

The Green Wave defense kept them in Friday's game in the first half when neither team got anything going offensively. Each team had less than 80 yards of offense in the opening half. The only score came on a 10-yard run from IC quarterback Will Cronin with 39.3 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Jonathon Ellis, who finished with 102 yards rushing, gave the Knights a 14-0 lead three plays into the second half with a 59-yard touchdown run.

St. Edward responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive, which was capped by a 13-yard run by Ardiente.

After an IC punt, the Green Wave tied the game on Ryan Gilbert's 2-yard score.

Paul Hornstra's 56-yard touchdown run on the next play from scrimmage gave the Knights the lead again, 21-14, with 10:29 left in fourth quarter.

The Green Wave got the ball on their 26-yard line with 3:50 remaining. On the seventh play of the drive, Ardiente broke free for his second touchdown of the game before the failed conversion attempt. Ardiente gained 92 yards, 85 in the second half.

"We opened it up a little bit," Rolando said about his team's offense that scored on 3 of its 4 second-half possessions. "(IC) was taking the inside stuff away. We had to figure out how to get the ball outside."

ELGIN -- According to St. Edward coach Mike Rolando, there was no other choice than to go for the two-point conversion -- and the win -- trailing 21-20 with 1:40 left in Friday's game against Immaculate Conception at Greg True Field.

Rolando and the rest of the Green Wave faithful will likely replay that scenario over and over for years to come after junior running back Moises Quiroga was stuffed by a pair of Knights defenders dead in his tracks for no gain, sealing the fate on St. Edward's new school record 24th consecutive loss.

The gutsy late-game decision was made possible by a 35-yard TD run by Green Wave senior Matt Ardiente, capping off a clutch seven-play, 74-yard drive that began with 3:50 left in the game.

» Click to enlarge image

Matt Ardiente

"We will second-guess ourselves all day, but we are still proud of their effort."

Ardiente, whose brother Mark was a member of the 2001 squad that lost 23 straight, agreed that there was no immediate second thoughts whether the Wave should go for the elusive victory or attempt the extra-point kick and play for overtime.

"Growing up, my brother was a part of that losing streak team and I will always remember that moment they ended it by beating Marian Central," said Ardiente, whose brother was in attendance. "I just wanted to make him proud tonight and end the streak.

"We all felt like we could win the game. It was a decision as a team. We believed we could get it, but we came up short."

After a slow-moving first half, both offenses came alive in the second half. Immaculate Conception, which held a 7-0 lead at the half after converting a muffed punt return by Ardiente into a second-quarter score, seemingly took control on its first drive of the third quarter following a 59-yard Jonathon Ellis TD run for a 14-0 lead.

However, the Green Wave (0-4, 0-1 Suburban Catholic Conference) bounced right back on its ensuing possession with an impressive 13-play, 80-yard scoring drive finalized by a 13-yard run by Ardiente (9 rushes, 90 yards, 2 TDs).

St. Edward then tied the score at 14-all with 11:15 remaining in the final quarter after a 10-play drive that started at the Knight's 36-yard line. The highlight was a 15-yard pass play from Ryan Gilbert to Cory Diaz on fourth-and-10 from the IC 25-yard line. Gilbert (2-of-10, 43 yards passing) eventually scored on a 2-yard TD run.

"Again, we played our worst half of football, equal to last week, in that first half," said Rolando, whose team had 72 yards of total offense in the opening two quarters. "For them to step up and come through when we needed it was huge.

"This team is going to put four quarters together real soon and when we do we will shock the world."

IC (2-2, 1-0) jumped back ahead 21-14 less than a minute after St. Edward tied the score following a 56-yard TD run by Paul Hornstra.

After missing the two-point conversion, St. Edward was unsuccessful on its onside kick attempt. From there, the Knights took a knee to run out the clock.

"I wasn't at all surprised they went for the two-point conversion. I liked the call, but we were ready for the call," Knights coach Bill Schmidt said. "Why not? They were on their home field and they had an opportunity to break a long losing streak.

"The momentum was going their way. In the end, we just made one more play than they did."

St. Edward rushed for 210 yards on 32 carries in the second half and held a 297-185 edge in total yards on the evening.

Green Wave hoping to rebound -- St. Edward coach Mike Rolando faces one of the toughest jobs this week as he tries to get his team prepared for Friday night's meeting with Immaculate Conception.

That upcoming contest poses yet another realistic opportunity for the Green Wave to snap its now school-record 23-game losing streak. However, Rolando will have to build his players' confidence again after a rough loss to Aurora Central Catholic last week.

The Wave appeared primed to nab that elusive victory when it opened a 36-24 lead in the final seconds of the third quarter last week. But the fourth quarter turned into a nightmare as St. Edward lost fumbles on all four of its possessions and the Chargers tallied 28 unanswered points to notch a 52-36 win.

After the game Rolando was asked what he can say to his team to help erase the bitter disappointment.

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St. Edward senior Matt Ardiente runs for a big gain against Aurora Central Catholic on Friday. The Green Wave will look to bounce back from its disappointing loss to the Chargers when it hosts Immaculate Conception this week.
Scott m. Bort / staff photographer

ELGIN -- It was a familiar scene as St. Edward's players walked off Greg True Field with dazed looks on their faces Friday.

However, the nature of the Green Wave's 23rd straight defeat was nothing like the rest.

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St. Edward quarterback Ryan Gilbert jumps over two Aurora Central Catholic players to convert a two-point conversion Friday night in Elgin.
(Scott M. Bort/Staff Photographer)

St. Edward let victory slip away in the truest sense, losing six fumbles on seven possessions in the second half -- including all four fourth-quarter possessions.

The inability to hold on to the ball proved to be St. Edward's undoing as Aurora Central Catholic rallied from a two-possession deficit in the fourth quarter to earn a 52-36 Suburban Catholic Conference victory.

With the defeat, the Green Wave ties the program record for consecutive losses. St. Edward also lost 23 straight games from 1998-2001.

"This is about as bad as it gets," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "We played two awesome games the first two weeks and we played terrible tonight. Everything we could have done wrong we did wrong. We're not this bad of a football team."

The elusive victory was well within reach for the Green Wave when Jimmy Mathisen scored on a 15-yard run with 13 seconds left in the third quarter to put St. Edward ahead 36-24.

The Chargers answered right back, though, marching 59 yards in five plays for their first touchdown of the second half to pull within 36-32 with 10:44 left in the game. The score marked the first of 28 unanswered points for ACC.

St. Edward quarterback Ryan Gilbert fumbled two plays into the Green Wave's ensuing possession. With momentum squarely on its side, ACC (1-2, 1-0) took a the lead three plays later on a 31-yard pass from Mike Adams to Kyle Edwards.

The Chargers added onto that lead after St. Edward (0-3, 0-1) fumbled a squib kick on the ensuing kickoff at its own 40-yard line. ACC once again took advantage of the turnover, scoring three plays later to take a 45-36 lead.

The Green Wave managed to march to the ACC 15-yard line on its next possession, but a Mathisen fumble on the third play of the drive ended the scoring threat. When the Chargers scored four plays later on a 43-yard pass from Mike Adams to Mark Adams the onslaught was complete.

In all, St. Edward fumbled 11 times in the second half, recovering five of the drops. ACC scored 21 of its 28 unanswered points in the fourth quarter off turnovers. "It was a muddy field and the ball was really wet," Gilbert said. "But that's not really an excuse. Turnovers just killed us."

Added Rolando: "It was as muddy out here for (ACC) as it was for us and they weren't dropping the ball all over the field."

The second-half meltdown overshadowed a strong effort for the Green Wave, which outgained the Chargers 483-436 in total offense. St. Edward 30-24 at halftime after a back-and-forth first two quarters.

St. Edward rumbled to 483 rushing yards on 51 carries, with Mathisen (187 yards, 16 carries, 2 TDs) and junior Moises Quiroga (183 yards, 19 carries, 2 TDs) leading the charge. However, Quiroga was limited in the fourth quarter after sustaining an ankle injury late in the third.

The Green Wave ultimately proved unable to hold down ACC's passing attack. Quarterback Mike Adams passed for 339 yards and six touchdowns, with Mark Adams racking up 172 receiving yards and three touchdowns and Edwards hauling in 129 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Edwards also recovered three fumbles.

The victory was only ACC's fourth in its past 28 games. Three of those four wins have come against St. Edward.

"The adjustments we made in the second half, coupled with a couple of their turnovers that we converted into points in the second half is the story of the game," ACC coach Mike Curry said.

The St. Edward Green Wave football team pushed its consecutive loss streak to 23 games by letting a fourth quarter lead slip away and losing its Suburban Catholic Conference opener 52-36 to the Aurora Central Catholic Chargers Friday night at Greg True Field in Elgin.

Heading into the fourth quarter the Green Wave (0-3, 0-1) found themselves comfortably ahead 36-24 but the ride was about to get bumpy.

Chargers quarterback Mike Adams found Kyle Edwards for a 40-yard touchdown pass and hit Mark Adams with a pass to convert the 2-point conversion, which cut the Green Wave lead to 4.

On the ensuing kickoff the Chargers' special teams got the ball back when they recovered a squib kick at the Green Wave's own 39 yard line.

Adams found Edwards again on a screen pass that went for a 31-yard touchdown followed by an Edwards run for the 2-point conversion bringing the score to 38-36.

The Chargers' special teams struck again recovering another squib kick at the St. Edward 40.

Adams then found his other favorite target on the night, Mark Adams, for a 12-yard touchdown pass that gave the Chargers (1-2, 1-0) a 2 score lead.

Adams finished with 6 touchdown passes for the game.

The Green Wave, which tied a school record for consecutive losses, had a hard time holding on to the football and two solid drives in the fourth quarter ended on Charger fumble recoveries which dashed any comeback hopes St. Edward might have had.

"The onside kicks and the fumbles killed us tonight," said St. Edward quarterback Ryan Gilbert. "This one is tough to take."

The victory told Mark Adams something about his teammates that he didn't know they had in them.

"I didn't know we could get that pumped up," said a surprised Adams. "We knew we could do it tonight. We saw our opportunities and we capitalized on them."

Both coaches seemed to agree with the players' assessments.

"Our adjustments in the second half and capitalizing on the turnovers was the story of the game," said Chargers coach Mike Curry.

After the game Green Wave coach Mike Rolando assessed his team's performance as well.

"We're a better team than the way we played tonight and we have got to play our game if we our going to get a win," he said.

Aurora Central Catholic (0-2) at St. Edward (0-2)

When: 7:30 p.m. today at Greg True Field

Last week: Aurora Christian 35, St. Edward 33; Harvard 33, Aurora Central 14

Last year: Aurora Central 41, St. Edward 28

Outlook: Is this the week St. Edward gets its elusive victory? The Green Wave have dropped 22 straight games dating back to the 2004 season, when they posted a 45-14 victory against the very same Chargers from Aurora Central. But this St. Edward team is much improved from the two previous squads responsible for the bulk of that losing streak. In two games the older, wiser, Wave has averaged 37 points, losing both by a combined total of just 7 points. "I think we've made a ton of improvement," third-year coach Mike Rolando said. "(The players) need to get over the hump with a victory to realize they are as good as they are." As for the streak? "I don't know if the streak bothers anyone," Rolando added. "I wouldn't trade the 20 losses I've been a part of here for anything because we had to rebuild this program from scratch and we did it with kids who were loyal to St. Ed's, loyal to this program. I'll always remember the five seniors on this team for sticking it out with us." Versatile senior running back Matt Ardiente has rushed for 205 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries with 8 receptions for 80 yards and another score. Senior quarterback Ryan Gilbert has completed 18-of-40 pass attempts for 204 yards, 1 TD and 3 interceptions. The St. Edward defense will have its hands full with ACC quarterback Mike Adams, who last week in a loss to Harvard threw for 231 yards and 1 touchdown. His top target is Mark Adams, who caught 8 of those passes for 136 yards and a score. "They run well with their quarterback and running back in that spread formation," Rolando said."

St. Edward senior Matt Ardiente remembers the Green Wave's last victory well.

It was homecoming night at Greg True Field on Oct. 8, 2004, and Ardiente -- a freshman at the time -- was in the stands as St. Edward notched a 45-14 win against Aurora Central Catholic.

"That game is something to remember," Ardiente said. "I've always had that picture in my head and I want that feeling now."

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St. Edward seniors Ryan Gilbert (12) and Nevin Bens are three-year varsity performers for the Green Wave.
scott m. bort / staff photographer

Inside

• Previews of Week 3 matchups, area statistical leaders and more, B4-5

The Green Wave is currently on a 22-game losing streak, and Ardiente and fellow seniors Ryan Gilbert and Nevin Bens have been involved in the past 20 of those losses over the past two-plus seasons.

However, there is reason to believe that dubious streak could come to an end soon.

Bolstered by the deepest and most athletic roster in coach Mike Rolando's three seasons at the helm, St. Edward lost its first two games this season by a combined seven points against Hampshire and Aurora Christian.

In a major sign of improvement, a few breaks here and there are all that separate a Green Wave team that was outscored by an average of 34.8 points per game the past two season from being 2-0.

"It is a huge development for us and we've taken great strides," Rolando said. "But the boys want to win. They're not here to impress people with their improvement."

The Green Wave will look to end the skid tonight against none other than ACC, St. Edward's last victim three seasons ago. Adding to the Wave's desperation for a victory is the fact that a loss would tie the 23-game losing streak sustained from 1998-2001 as the program's longest.

Whenever that elusive victory comes, there is little doubt St. Edward's seniors will feel utmost gratification.

Ardiente, Gilbert, Bens and senior Ryan Beem represent the only holdovers from the days when former coach Rich Sanders was running St. Edward's program.

It was those four players who stuck through the difficult times that followed Sanders' sudden departure a month before the 2005 season and it is those four players who have been most instrumental in rebuilding the program from the ground up.

Along with senior Eric Guerrero, who joined the team last season, Rolando says his upperclassmen deserve to taste success more than anyone.

"I think the whole team sees the pain and the struggles those seniors have made to make the program better," Rolando said. "For those guys to leave without a victory is not an option."

However, Ardiente, Gilbert and Bens all stuck around, albeit for different reasons.

For Ardiente, the decision to stay at St. Edward was made in part because of the arrival of Rolando, Ardiente's former coach on the St. Edward Crusaders youth football team.

Gilbert admits he wanted to transfer to Elgin before his sophomore season, but some advice from his grandfather led him to stay at St. Edward for academic reasons.

Meanwhile, Bens resisted the urge to depart because he wanted to stay with good friends Ardiente and Gilbert.

"Knowing that everyone abandoned us, I wanted to stick together with those guys and prove to them I wasn't going to abandon them," Bens said. "I think they did the same things for me."

The trio has seen plenty of playing time since. Gilbert is in his third year as St. Edward's starting quarterback, Ardiente is a three-year starter at running back and Bens is a three-year contributor on both sides of the ball.

They have also been a part of a number of ugly losses. In the ultra-competitive Suburban Catholic Conference, the seniors spent their underclass years as members of inexperienced and undersized Green Wave teams that for all intents and purposes had no business playing a varsity schedule.

Nonetheless, none of the three regrets his decision to stay at St. Edward.

"I'm glad I stayed," Gilbert said. "It's been tough the last couple years, but coach Rolando is a great coach and I've enjoyed playing for him and the rest of the staff the last two years."

Before the season began, Rolando sat down with his seniors to discuss team goals. One of those goals was to make sure the program is headed in the right direction for years to come.

Whether it is preaching the value of regular weight lifting, leading an intense offseason conditioning regimen, fostering team unity or simply sharing stories from the past few years with younger players, St. Edward's seniors are doing everything possible to make sure their goal becomes a reality.

"Getting this program back on its feet is what we are striving for," Ardiente said.

Added Bens: "Our goal is to leave the program better than it was before and to make it as good as possible for future generations."

AURORA -- Leave it to Jordan Roberts to make a play.

If the Aurora Christian junior quarterback isn't throwing touchdown passes, he's causing the other guys to fumble.

He did both Friday night in leading AC (2-0) to a hard-fought 35-33 victory over stubborn St. Edward at East Aurora's Roy E. Davis Field.

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St. Edward's Jimmy Mathisen is wrapped up by Aurora Christian defenders Michael Friend (81) and Taylor Hunter (44) during Friday's game in Aurora.
TRAVIS HAUGHTON / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

St. Edward, which lost its 22nd straight game, forced an AC punt and took possession at its own 31 with 4:24 still left. That was plenty of time for the Green Wave offense, which piled up 398 yards of total offense, to score the go-ahead touchdown.

Enter Roberts.

Green Wave tailback Moises Quiroga (18 carries, 83 yard, three TDs) picked up nine yards on second down but was stripped of the football by Roberts. AC's huge Peter Kariotis flopped on the ball and the Eagles were able to run all but 6.3 seconds off the clock.

St. Edward was that close to ending the losing streak but the Green Wave aren't looking for style points.

"Being close isn't good anymore," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "It's hard for these kids to take."

Mistakes cost both teams. AC had two passes intercepted, lost a fumble and was called for eight penalties.

That paled in comparison to the Green Wave. St. Edward also had a pair of passes intercepted, lost two fumbles, missed two extra point kicks and had a touchdown called back after one of its 11 penalties.

"Penalties and mistakes, some aggressive and some stupid, in a close game like this, any one of them can be a key," Rolando said.

Rolando could not have asked for more from senior running back Matt Ardiente. He terrorized the Eagle defense to the tune of 191 yards rushing on only nine attempts.

"They (the Green Wave) played with a lot of heart," AC coach Don Beebe said. "They understood what they had to do in this game and they played hard."

Roberts wasn't the only Eagle to have an outstanding game. Sophomore wide receiver Matt Morse caught nine passes for 110 yards and a touchdown and senior running back Sean O'Boyle rushed for 47 yards and caught three passes for 40 yards.

Beebe was less pleased with a defense that couldn't seem to tackle Green Wave ball carriers.

"When you have poor tackling it's just a lack of attitude," Beebe said.

That will be something to work on starting Tuesday.

Aurora Christian quarterback Jordan Roberts is well known as an offensive weapon and he did little to hurt that reputation against St. Edward.

Roberts threw for 3 touchdowns and, showing a new wrinkle, ran the option to perfection on a 30-yard touchdown run.

But Roberts' biggest play in this game came on the defensive side of the ball as he forced a fumble late in the game that was recovered by teammate Peter Kariotis and secured a 35-33 non-conference victory for the Eagles (2-0) Friday night at East Aurora.

"They just threw me in there on defense and I saw the play going outside and, honestly, I wasn't even thinking about stripping the ball," said Roberts. "I'm not even sure what happened. It came out really late, but it turned out great."

That defensive play was one of very few on a night where neither defense did much to stop the other team. Both teams had nearly 400 yards in offense and did more stopping of themselves with turnovers, 7 combined, and penalties, 19 combined for 155 yards.

St. Edward's first score came on an interception return by Jimmy Mathisen but Roberts came right back with a fade to Michael Friend just a minute and half later that tied the game at 7.

Eagles linebacker Dan Hill recovered a fumble on the next drive that Roberts turned into a 7-point lead three plays later on a TD pass to Joe Redmond.

Matt Morse was the next recipient of a Robert's TD pass, with a 9-yard scoring grab that was one of 9 catches on the night for the sophomore.

"Matt Morse, he's an amazing sophomore," said Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe. "Every time I was just calling his number because he was hot, they couldn't stop Matt."

The teams traded touchdowns the rest of the night with neither team ever having more than a one-score lead until the Eagles gambled and went for a 2-point conversion that John Smith was able to run into the end zone to push the lead to 35-26.

St. Edward (0-2) took another tough loss, its 22nd in a row, and unfortunately there were a few too may mistakes to come away with a victory. The Green Wave got a 185-yard performance from senior Matt Ardiente that included a 68-yard TD burst, and three rushing touchdowns from Moises Qiroga. But four turnovers and a dozen penalties were too much to overcome.

"We were that close again," said St. Edward coach Mike Rolando. "Any one of those mistakes and key plays could have been the difference in the game. But the kids played with a tremendous amount of heart. I'm disappointed for them because they want to win so badly. We're all proud of them but close isn't good enough anymore, they want to win."

"In my four years coaching, they played with as much heart as any team we have ever played against," said Beebe.

St. Edward (0-1) at Aurora Christian (1-0) Game time: 7:30 p.m. today at East Aurora High School

Last year: Aurora Christian 49, St. Edward 26

Last week: Hampshire 48, St. Edward 41; Aurora Christian 12, Immaculate Conception 7.

Players to watch: Aurora Christian's offense gets most of the headlines, but the Eagles' defense came up big in last week's season-opening victory. The middle linebacker made 13 tackles (4 solo), a tackle for loss, forced a fumble and had a huge sack on the last play of the game to ensure the win. "He was just sensational," Eagles coach Don Beebe said.

Outlook: Beebe certainly is impressed with the Green Wave's offense after St. Edward scored 41 against Hampshire. "St. Ed can score points," Beebe said. "They are all seniors and the best team they have had in years. It should be a offensive shoo out. Of course, when you say that it will be a defensive battle." Last year Immaculate Conception defeated Aurora Christian to start the year, so getting a win in Melrose Park was an extra big lift for the Eagles. "It was a big win for us," Beebe said. "They are a good team and will be very competitive this year." Junior Jordan Roberts completed 12 of 24 passes for 182 yards and 1 touchdown and 1 interception while also leading the ground game with 73 rushing yards. John Smith was held to 31 rushing yards on 14 attempts while adding 32 receiving yards including a touchdown catch. Matt Morse had 3 catches for 43 yards, second to Michael Friend (5-69).

Bottom line: The Eagles will try to go 2-0 against the Suburban Catholic Conference, which is never an easy thing. Look for the Aurora Christian offense to get going.

ELGIN -- Trace Teboda's return to the quarterback position worked out just fine for Hampshire on Saturday.

The senior threw four touchdown passes -- all to tight end T.J. Burzak -- and ran for another score as the visiting Whip-Purs held off relentless St. Edward 46-41 at Greg True Field in the season opener for both teams.

Teboda completed 12 of 21 passes for 228 yards and rushed 13 times for 75 yards with 11 of those coming on a TD scamper in the second quarter. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior connected with Burzak on scoring passes of 39, 42, 10 and 16 yards.

Not bad for a guy who earned All-Big Northern Conference honors as a receiver last season. Teboda played QB on the sophomore team as a freshman and has made the adjustment back under center smoothly. And Hampshire needed all of his playmaking abilities to fend off St. Edward, which lost for the 21st consecutive time.

"They played an awesome game," Teboda said of the Green Wave. "We just had a lot of heart. Coach (Dan Cavanaugh) tells us to play tough and with heart and class. And that's why we won this game."

The last of Teboda's TD passes came with 1:47 to play, giving his team a 46-34 lead. But St. Edward responded like it had all day. The teams were tied at 21 at halftime and at 27 entering the fourth quarter.

In the end Hampshire simply made more plays. St. Edward trailed 39-34 after a Ryan Gilbert TD run of 2 yards and Jon Godfrey's fifth PAT kick with 4:47 remaining in the game. Nevin Bens then recovered an onside kick and the Wave took over at the Hampshire 48-yard line with 4:45 left.

On a fourth-and-three play, Gilbert -- the Wave's third-year QB -- rolled right and tried to complete a pass to Matt Ardiente. But the throw was too tall for the 5-4 senior.

"I should have run it," said Gilbert. "I saw a hole and I should have run it."

Hampshire took over on downs at its own 41 with 3:40 left and continued to attack. Teboda found Even Brenner for a 38-yard completion, which led to the last score. Teboda connected with Burzak (6 catches for 126 yards) on a fourth-and-five play that turned into a 16-yard score.

St. Edward rallied again when Ardiente caught a 23-yard TD pass from Gilbert with 55 seconds to go. But an onside kick attempt failed and the Whips ran out the clock.

"We found a way to win. That's a nice cliché to sum it up," said Cavanaugh. "We found a way to win."

St. Edward couldn't. But Gilbert, who completed 12 of 29 passes for 123 yards with one TD and two interceptions and ran for two scores, was encouraged.

"I think this could be a really big step for us," he said.

Junior Jimmy Mathisen scored on rushing plays of 2 and 8 yards in his Green Wave debut after transferring from Larkin and Bens scored on a 65-yard fumble return.

Hampshire junior fullback Joe Moore gained 72 yards and scored on runs of 1 and 3 yards, but fumbled four times, losing three. Moore atoned a bit for that by intercepting a pass. Junior defensive back James Goebbert's interception of Gilbert near Hampshire goal line midway through the fourth quarter helped the Whips survive.

"They played a tough game, they gave us a good run," said Burzak. "We actually knew they were going to be a better team this year.

"We were expecting a good game from them. And that was a good game."

The St. Edward football team couldn't keep its losing streak from extending to 21 in a row Saturday, mainly because its defense couldn't keep Hampshire tight end T.J. Burzak out of the end zone.

But the improved Green Wave did earn respect from visiting Hampshire by battling until the final gun in a 46-41 nonconference loss at Greg True Field.

"We were looking forward to a good game and it was a good game," said Burzak, for whom the season opener was a particularly good game.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior tight end caught 3 of his 4 touchdowns from quarterback Trace Teboda after the Whip-Purs had fallen behind 27-21 in the third quarter.

Burzak hauled in a 43-yard touchdown reception to tie the game with 7:40 left in the third quarter on a precision pass through traffic from Teboda, who threw for 4 scores and ran for another. The extra point failed, however.

After the Hampshire defense held for a punt, the Whips drove 51 yards in 9 plays to take the lead, a drive capped by Burzak's 10-yard scoring reception.

Hampshire seemed to put a stranglehold on the lead when linebacker Joe Moore intercepted St. Edward quarterback Ryan Gilbert deep in his own territory. Moore then parlayed his luck by finishing off a 6-play drive with a 4-yard touchdown run up the middle that gave Hampshire a 39-27 advantage with 7:29 remaining.

The game looked over once Hampshire junior defensive back James Goebbert intercepted Gilbert to halt the ensuing St. Edward drive at the 5-yard line. However, the Whips gave the ball right back on the next play when their tailback fumbled for the fifth time in the game.

Gilbert capitalized on the mistake 5 plays later by beating the defense to the pylon on a bootleg keeper to cut the deficit to 39-34 with 4:47 to play.

The Green Wave then recovered Moises Quiroga's onside kick, but the offense turned the ball over on downs at the Hampshire 41 with 3:35 to play. "We didn't convert on fourth down when we really needed to," said Gilbert, who finished 13 of 29 for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Hampshire took a 46-34 lead with 1:47 left on a connection between Teboda and Burzak on 4th-and-6 from the 17-yard line.

The Wave drove quickly and scored on a 23-yard pass from Gilbert to Matt Ardiente, but couldn't recover the subsequent onside kick.

"Even if we're down, we know we've got the guns to come back," Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said of the comeback. "It's nice to come out of the blocks with that, with the knowledge that we can come back and recover from things like that."

The first half featured three ties as the teams answered each other's scoring plays. St. Edward took its 27-21 third quarter lead when running back Jimmy Mathisen scored his second rushing touchdown of the day from 8 yards out finished a 6-play 47-yard march.

St. Edward gained 299 yards of offense but allowed 446 yards and 7 touchdowns. Nine players going both ways on a roster of 25 took a toll late in the game on a warm, sunny August day.

"I'm very proud of our kids' effort," said St. Edward coach Mike Rolando. "They fought to the end. We were gassed a little bit. We ran into some cramps. We just have to eliminate some of our mistakes."

St. Edward optimistic heading into opener

Hampshire and St. Edward's past three years have been as different as night and day.

The Whip-Purs have enjoyed plenty of success, reaching the playoffs in each of the past three seasons and advancing to the second round all three years.

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Senior Trace Teboda leads Hampshire into Saturday's season opener at St. Edward.
courier file

Hampshire at St. Edward

When: 1 p.m. Saturday

Last year: Hampshire 36, St. Edward 13

Erik Jacobsen's pick: Hampshire

Meanwhile, St. Edward has suffered through two straight winless seasons and carries a 20-game losing streak into the 2007 season.

However, there is reason to believe the Green Wave could be on the rise this season and that the Whip-Purs' streak of four straight opening-game victories against St. Edward could be in jeopardy.

"I know that (St. Edward) has had a lot of underclassmen the last couple years and that they've got a lot of people back," Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said. "So I think you can throw out the window what's gone on the last couple years. They are going to be a good team."

St. Edward coach Mike Rolando hopes that outlook is accurate.

In his third season as head coach, Rolando has overseen the growth of the Wave's football program from 33 players two years ago to more than 75 this year. This season he believes his team has the size, talent and leadership to turn things around, and he thinks it could start against Hampshire.

"We now have athletes that can match up with their athletes," Rolando said. "They seem junior-dominated and so are we. We've got some seniors in key positions and so do they. It should be a really good football game, and I'm excited to finally be a part of one of those."

While Rolando thinks his team can compete with Hampshire, he is quick to point out that his squad faces a tall task. The Whips do have only nine seniors on their roster, but several have ample experience and will be filling key positions.

Senior Trace Teboda takes over as Hampshire's quarterback after earning All-Big Northern Conference honors last season as a receiver. Senior T.J. Burzak -- who caught 26 passes for 358 yards as a tight end last year and made 27 solo tackles on defense -- also returns, as does junior running back Joe Moore, who ran for 476 yards and eight touchdowns last year.

"Hampshire is definitely a playoff-caliber team," Rolando said. "I know they will have some tough runners, a good quarterback, a good tight end and plenty of heavy hitters."

On the other side, St. Edward has only five seniors on its roster this year, but they have all played big roles in rebuilding the program.

Senior quarterback Ryan Gilbert, senior running back Matt Ardiente and junior fullback-linebacker Moises Quiroga are among the Wave's top returnees. Junior running back-linebacker Jimmy Mathisen, a transfer from Larkin, is also expected to make an impact.

"I don't think anybody outside of our St. Edward football family believes we can win more than a game or a game at all," Rolando said. "But there is an aura of confidence around the kids because they know how hard they've worked and they know how different it is this year than the last couple years."

Saturday's game marks the ninth straight year the two teams will open the season against one another. Hampshire is 7-1 in those previous meetings.

Hampshire (7-4) at St. Edward (0-9)

When: 1 p.m. Saturday at Greg True Field

Last year: Hampshire 36, St. Edward 13

Outlook: Hampshire has won four straight in this series, including the last two meetings by a combined score of 89-25. The Green Wave was overmatched by every opponent the last two years with the vast majority of the roster spots filled by underclassmen. As a result, the Green Wave enters the 2007 football season saddled with a 20-game losing streak that dates back to the 2004 season. "The kids are dying to get on the field and see how we've improved," said St. Edward's third-year coach, Mike Rolando, who directed a structured off-season lifting program. The Wave will be led by three-year varsity starting quarterback Ryan Gilbert, who has an athletic receiver to throw to in junior Cory Diaz, who led the team with 28 catches for 442 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2006. Junior Moises Quiroga (50 tackles) and senior Matt Ardiente (48 tackles) return as linebackers for a defense that features more upperclassmen than freshmen and sophomores for the first time in three seasons. Hampshire is coming off a 7-win season in which it reached the second round of the playoffs before falling to Amboy. The Whip-Purs will be led by quarterback Trace Teboda, who has a big, athletic tight end to target in senior T.J. Burzak (6-2, 210), who made 26 catches last year for 358 yards and 2 touchdowns. Fullback Joe Moore (5-10, 185) ran for 476 yards and 8 touchdowns last year as a sophomore. "St. Ed's has got a lot of kids back and they play in that conference (Suburban Catholic) where you can be an awfully good team and not win a game," Cavanaugh said. "I think St. Ed's is going to be a good team this year."

St. Edward coach Mike Rolando knows this for sure -- his Green Wave will be an improved team this season.

How many victories, if any, that assures Rolando's team is unknown.

And, St. Edward's roster includes just five seniors. Two of those upperclassmen have already earned two letters and are the leaders of this team. Senior quarterback Ryan Gilbert (5-foot-10, 160 pounds) and senior wing back-receiver Matt Ardiente (5-4, 145) are two of the top playmakers for the Wave.

"Ardiente is the heart and soul of this team and I think he's going to have other weapons around him this season," said Rolando, a former standout quarterback at Larkin. "And Gilbert has definitely fulfilled what I expect from a quarterback."

A pair of talented juniors return at the skill positions. Moises Quiroga (5-11, 200) is in the best shape of his life and will man the fullback position while also filling a linebacking spot. Quiroga led the team in tackles the last two seasons. Cory Diaz (6-0, 170) is a capable receiver who can make big plays.

Junior running back-linebacker Jimmy Mathisen, a transfer from Larkin, figures to make an immediate impact. Mathisen practiced with the team last season while sitting out per Illinois High School Association transfer rules.

The offensive line is spearheaded by sophomore Shane Finnane (6-0, 220) -- the strongest player on the team who also enjoyed a solid off-season. Junior Ryan Eigenhauser (6-2, 195) is a two-year letterman, while junior Jim Waclawik (6-2, 185) can also make that claim. Look for juniors Andrew Richmond (5-11, 175) and Matt Johnson (5-11, 215) and sophomore Jon Godfrey (5-3, 150) to also contribute up front.

Senior Nevin Bens (5-10, 160) joins junior Josh Scholly (5-10, 150) and junior J.J. Kelly (6-3, 185), a transfer from Elgin High, as tight end-receivers.

Ardiente joins Quiroga, Mathisen and Waclawik at linebacker, while Bens and Scholly patrol the secondary. The defensive line includes senior Eric Guerrero (5-8, 155), sophomore Alex Arciuch (5-8, 150), Eigenhauser, Finnane, Gaige and Godfrey.

The junior-dominated Green Wave returns nine starters on each side of the ball.

"We have players with a greater football presence," said Rolando. "We realize we have a lot of guys going both ways. And we are young, but we're experienced.

"I've been really pleased with the bonding and unity of this group."

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Gilbert

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Bens

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Quiroga

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Senior Matt Ardiente and the Green Wave are optimistic entering the 2007 season. St. Edward looks to make a run at improvement this fall.
marina makropoulos / staff photographer

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Rolando

St. Edward schedule

Aug. 25 Hampshire

Aug. 31 at Aurora Christian

Sept. 7 Aurora Central Catholic

Sept. 14 Immaculate Conception

Sept. 21 at Marian Central

Sept. 28 at Driscoll

Oct. 5 St. Francis

Oct. 13 at Montini

Oct. 19 Marmion Academy St. Edward Green Wave

• 2006 record: 0-9

• Coach: Mike Rolando (0-18 in 3rd season)

• Playoff appearances: 2 (Postseason appearances came in 1983 and 2003)

There has always been debate whether the best small-school conference in the state is the Big Northern or the Suburban Catholic.

Once again this year the answer to that question looks to be the Suburban Catholic, which features 4 players from teams who have committed to Division I schools. And don't forget the fact Driscoll won its record sixth straight state crown last year and Marian Central reached the Class 5A state title game.

Coach Ed Brucker's Hurricanes, who were rated No. 1 in the Associated Press Class 5A preseason poll released earlier this week, have just 24 players on the roster, but return 6 offensive and 4 defensive starters from last year's undefeated conference champion and state finalist.

Senior offensive tackle Sean Cwynar (6-foot-4, 290 pounds) is headed to Notre Dame. His commitment comes a year after graduated senior Bryan Bulaga committed to Iowa.

Cwynar will block for third-year starting junior quarterback Jon Budmayr (6-1, 185) and 1,100-yard senior back T.J. Pappas (5-9, 165). Budmayr is receiving interest from several Big Ten schools.

"Our strength will be our offensive guys coming back," said Brucker, who also led Woodstock High School to the 1997 Class 5A state title and is 3 wins shy of 100 for his career. "We'll have a solid line if nobody gets hurt. We have no depth."

Montini, ranked fourth in the AP Class 5A preseason poll, features 3 Division I recruits in two-way starter Dex Jones (verbal to Wisconsin), 290-pound lineman Chuck Porcelli (Northwestern) and 2-way lineman Garrett Goebel (Ohio State). Goebel is rated as one of the top 100 preps in the nation. Three-year starter Johnny Borsellino (5-8, 165) is also one of the league's top players.

"We expect to have a great year," said Montini's Hall of Fame coach Chris Andriano. "These guys were outstanding all the way through. Last year we had a great team, realy, and lost to a lot of good teams."

Class 4A preseason No. 1 Driscoll suffered numerous key graduations. The Highlanders return 6 starters, including senior running back Tim Franken, who rushed for 1,250 yards and 15 scores last year. Senior linebacker Kevin Palermo (6-2, 230) is also back, as is 3-year senior starter David Schwabe who takes over the quarterbacking chores. His first pass Friday in Rock Island will be his first high school attempt. On defense, Schwabe has 21 career interceptions (28 is the state record).

"We have a tremendous amount of confidence in ourselves," said Driscoll coach Mike Burzawa. "We understand we just have to come out and execute on both sides of the ball."

St. Edward has lost 20 games in a row dating back to Week 7 of the 2004 season. But the Green Wave, with only 5 seniors on a 25-player roster, returns 20 of 22 positions, headlined by players like seniors Nevin Bens (RB-FS) and Matt Ardiente (RB-DB), juniors Moises Quiroga (MLB-FB) and Ryan Eigenhauser (WR-DB). Senior quarterback Ryan Gilbert is a 3-year starter who threw for nearly 1,000 yards last year. Larkin transfer Jimmy Mathisen has 4.6 speed.

"Being junior dominated in this league isn't unusual," said second-year St. Edward coach Mike Rolando. "We can't cry that we're younger or use that as an excuse."

Immaculate Conception returns 15 starters, including senior running back Jonathon Ellis, who is drawing interest from some Big Ten and mid-major schools. Quarterback Kevin Koch is also back. IC's season-opening game Saturday night against Aurora Christian had to be moved to a field in Melrose Park due to the heavy rains that hit the area earlier in the week.

St. Francis has a new coach in Iowa Hall of Famer Greg Purnell -- who has been impressed with his team's skilled-position players.

Marmion and third-year coach Dan Thorpe will look to throw the ball a little more this year. The Cadets are led by senior defensive back-wide receiver Manny Juarez.

Aurora Central is led by the brother duo of Mike (junior QB) and Mark (senior WR) Adams.

"Driscoll, Montini and Woodstock (Marian) and the rest fight for scraps," is how veteran ACC coach Mike Curry sees the SCC race. "A couple of teams if nobody gets hurt can challenge for second and third, but I don't see anyone catching those teams."

"It doesn't take rocket science," St. Francis' Purnell said, "to see there's talent in this league."

First official day of practice full of hope, promise

Area teams worked on conditioning, talked about fundamentals and even had to dodge some strong storms as the high school football season officially began throughout the state Wednesday with the first day of practices.

Tornado sirens went off as Larkin wound down the final half hour of its afternoon session of practice, prompting players to rush indoors and into the school's basement before getting the all clear to head home.

» Click to enlarge image

Elgin High School's Kenny Williams is wrapped up by a teammate during the Maroons' first official practice Wednesday in Elgin.
photos by scott m. bort / staff photographer

» Click to enlarge image

St. Edward assistant coach Marc Rusinko times players during sprints Wednesday at the Elgin Sports Complex. Wednesday marked the first day of official practice throughout Illinois.

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"I've had to deal with thunderstorms and rain before, but I can't remember hearing tornado sirens," Larkin coach Dave Bierman said.

All weather distractions aside, optimism was running high for every team as they broke out their helmets for the first time.

For Burlington Central, Wednesday marked the official start of its defense of the Big Northern Conference East Division title. Meanwhile, Bartlett, Hampshire, Jacobs, Larkin, St. Charles East and St. Charles North joined the Rockets in beginning their quests to return to the playoffs.

At the other end of the spectrum, teams like South Elgin, St. Edward, Streamwood and Dundee-Crown were working with a clean slate after struggling through rough campaigns last year.

South Elgin, which went winless in 2006 in its first varsity season, had seniors take the field for the first time Wednesday.

St. Edward, which has lost 20 consecutive games dating back to 2004, also has a large group of seniors who hope to turn around the school's recent fortunes.

"My sophomore year, a lot of kids were scared to get out there," St. Edward senior quarterback Ryan Gilbert said. "This year we have a lot more confidence. We expect to win."

Here is a quick roundup of how Day 1 of practice went for several area schools.

Burlington Central -- A number of key players from the Rockets squad that went 10-2 and reached the Class 4A quarterfinals last year are gone, but it appears Central will be able to fill some of those holes.

The Rockets have several All-BNC honorees returning, and Central coach Aaron Wichman said a productive summer camp helped decide a number of positions.

"There is always open competition, and until you can actually put the full pads on and have the guys go live nothing is ever set in stone," Wichman said. "But there are a few positions we are really comfortable at and then a few more where we'll have to see how doubles progress."

One position that appears set is quarterback, where senior Dan Hagberg is taking the majority of snaps. He replaces Justin Lee, who earned 2004 and 2006 Courier News Player of the Year honors.

With a solid group of seniors in the fold, the Rockets are eyeing their seventh trip to the playoffs in the past eight years.

"We lost a lot of people from last year, so we seniors need to step up with our leadership," Central defensive lineman Bryan Bell said. "Of course, our first goal is to win conference, and then we'll try to get to the playoffs and take it from there."

Elgin -- Maroons coach Tom Kim made no secret of what his team's top priority is in the preseason.

"I think more than any other year, conditioning is going to be a big part of what we need to achieve here through doubles," Kim said. "Because of our numbers situation, we've got a lot of players who are never going to leave the field."

Elgin might not have the biggest roster, but it does have several returnees at key positions. One is junior quarterback Tom Roth, who started all nine varsity games last season as a sophomore.

The Maroons also have a focused and determined Kenny Williams back in the fold. Williams rushed for 2,194 yards over the past two seasons and is looking to cap his outstanding high school career in style.

"I've been waiting for (the start of practice) for so long," Williams said. "In basketball and track I was obviously in that season, but my mind was still focused on what I can get better at for football."

Hampshire -- Although the opening day of practice normally brings plenty of wind sprints and other tests of endurance, that didn't diminish Hampshire senior Trace Teboda's excitement about finally taking the field.

"I've been bored out of my mind," Teboda said. "It's good to get out here and work."

Teboda will have plenty to occupy himself with in the coming weeks as he moves into his new role as the Whips' quarterback. Teboda earned All-BNC honors last year as a wideout, making 27 catches for 649 yards and five touchdowns.

Teboda is part of a group of nine seniors hoping to guide Hampshire to its fourth straight playoff appearance. Meanwhile, Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said the influx of a large group of juniors is making for plenty of competition at several positions.

"Sometimes in the past when we've had limited numbers we haven't had that luxury, but now we've got a lot of guys both ways who are competing for jobs," Cavanaugh said.

Larkin -- The Royals will once again put the ball in the hands of quarterback Cam Kinley, who made a splash last season by passing for 1,474 yards and 15 touchdowns in just eight games.

"Cam put some work in during the summer and got a little bit stronger," Bierman said. "It's tough when you are a three-sport athlete to get some meat on the bones, but he's definitely stronger."

Kinley will have a much different supporting cast around him this year with most of the offensive line and offensive backfield from last year's playoff-qualifying team lost to graduation.

Senior Dillon Smith, who spent most of last season at safety, will get the majority of the carries this year at running back. Kinley also has senior Nick Bee back as a member of his receiving corps.

"I just need to get my timing down on the passing routes with some of the new guys and my timing down on handoffs with (Smith)," Kinley said.

St. Edward -- Green Wave coach Mike Rolando said he is seeing his team's hard work in the summer paying off right away during the preseason.

"Right now one of the biggest keys is coming in and being in shape," Rolando said. "The kids proved to us in this first session they are in shape, which is a great start. Now we don't have to waste a lot of practice time conditioning. That's a big key for us, and that's also going to help our second key of staying healthy."

Senior Matt Ardiente -- who has handled running back and linebacker duties in the past two seasons -- said that conditioning should help considering he and his teammates will be on the field a lot this season.

"There are a lot of guys going both ways, and we seem like we are in shape," Ardiente said. "We just need that intensity and that desire to win to put us over the top."

Entering his third season as St. Edward's football coach, Rolando has observed Green Wave gridders grow in stature and confidence.

"There's a really good feeling around this program right now," said Rolando, whose team joins others around the state today in the first official practices of 2007. "There's been a noticeable difference in what we've done in the weight room. We were just so small."

St. Edward is 0-18 under Rolando, the former quarterback at Larkin High. The Green Wave has lost 20 consecutive games and 24 of its last 25.

Still, there's reason for optimism.

"Things are looking great," said Rolando, who has helped build the program from 33 players to more than 75 since he took over for Rich Sanders just prior to the 2005 campaign. "We knew what we had in front of us and it was lean and it was a struggle.

"But we've always tried to make it fun. I think there's a vibe of confidence right now. And that might sound strange for a coach who is 0-18. But that's how I feel."

Rolando points to a senior class that has taken its lumps and could be poised to deliver some this fall. Third-year quarterback Ryan Gilbert has developed into the kind of leader that a successful squad needs.

"That's been a huge step for us as a team," Rolando said of his senior signal caller. "(Gilbert) has gotten kids to believe in him."

Senior Matt Ardiente has improved his speed and quickness and figures to continue in his role as a playmaker, lining up at wing back and as a slot receiver.

And junior Jimmy Mathisen, a Larkin transfer and former St. Edward Crusaders player, could make an impact at linebacker and running back. Fellow junior Moises Quiroga is a returning standout who contributes at the same positions.

"(Quiroga) is in the best shape that I've ever seen him," said Rolando, who has coached the talented player since the seventh grade.

Word around St. Edward is that the losing streak could be halted in a hurry with games against Hampshire, Aurora Christian, Aurora Central Catholic and Immaculate Conception on the schedule to start.

Rolando made no predictions during the preseason, but his eagerness to officially begin the season is hard to contain.

"We're ready to begin a whole new page in our program," he said. "I will say that we will be better than we've been."

Visiting St. Francis did not want to take St. Edward lightly Friday night in Suburban Catholic Conference football action.

The Spartans held a 7-0 lead over the Green Wave after one quarter, but then they exploded for 34 points in the second quarter en route to an impressive 41-8 SCC victory in Elgin.

A fumble by St. Edward (0-8, 0-6) on the first play from scrimmage set up the first score of the game for St. Francis (2-6, 2-4).

Senior running back Mike Allen wasted little time finding the end zone as he broke left and raced 42 yards for the touchdown on the Spartans first play from scrimmage before the first of 5 extra points by Mike Krese made the score 7-0.

Then 40 seconds into the second quarter, freshman quarterback Tyler Warden found Allen breaking deep over the middle for a 65-yard touchdown catch and a 14-0 advantage.

After the Green Wave turned the ball over on downs on their next possession, St. Francis sophomore Mark Kachmer bolted right through the middle of the St. Edward defense for a 42-yard touchdown run on a second-down play.

Leading 21-0, Warden would once again throw deep over the middle of the field. This time he connected with senior Reagan O’Toole for a 46-yard touchdown pass and a 27-0 lead with 8:13 remaining in the first half.

The Spartans next scoring drive would take only 39 yards as Allen had two 18-yard runs before his 3-yard TD run made the score 34-0 4:55 before intermission.

Then senior Kyle Kachmer would get into the act for St. Francis as he intercepted a pass by St. Edward quarterback Ryan Gilbert before racing 60 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown and a commanding 41-0 lead shortly before halftime.

“I’m proud of the kids for coming out and taking care of business tonight, and our freshman quarterback (Warden) is something special,” said St. Francis coach Bobby Benet. “I’m happy for the seniors who played well and for some of the younger guys who look good for the future.”

With a running clock for the entire second half, the Green Wave would get on the scoreboard via a pretty wild trick play late in the third quarter.

Gilbert bounced a lateral pass to running back Moises Quiroga who scooped up the ball at the St. Francis 43-yard-line.

Then with the majority of the Spartans defense frozen, Quiroga fired a TD pass to senior Matt Yohn who went into the end zone basically uncontested. A 2-point conversion from Gilbert to Bill Pollack made the score 41-8 with 2:53 left in the third quarter.

“They (St. Francis) are a good team, and that is the kind of match-up we haven’t been able to compete with all year,’’ said St. Edward coach Mike Rolando, whose team has lost 19 in a row. “I was proud of the way we played in the second half, and Matt Yohn’s touchdown was awesome.”

Warden (5-for-6) threw for 127 yards while Allen had 91 yards on 9 carries.

Those four squads enter Week 8 of the season still in search of their first wins. Although the circumstances surrounding the teams' struggles are different, the sting of losing is the same for all.

"It's been tough, to be honest with you," South Elgin coach Dale Schabert said. "This is not what we expected. We thought we'd have a few wins by now, and we truly believed that, but it hasn't turned out that way."

Added D-C coach Mike Davis: "I'm not sleeping really well. I've never been in this situation before in my playing and coaching career where you are 0-7 with two games left. It's tough and really frustrating."

All four teams have at least one realistic shot at picking up a win in the final two weeks. Tonight D-C plays at Woodstock (1-6) and St. Edward hosts St. Francis (1-6). Next week South Elgin squares off against Elgin (1-6) while Streamwood meets East Aurora (1-6).

The following is a look at what has ailed these teams this season and a look at what they can expect next year and beyond.

Second-year coach Mike Rolando brings plenty of energy and optimism to the St. Edward program, but the fact still remains that the Green Wave has lost 18 straight games dating back to 2004.

Rolando and his staff faced the tough task of picking up the pieces after former coach Rich Sanders' abrupt departure a month before the 2005 campaign.

"We all hate losing and when you step away from the field the loss stings and you are depressed," Rolando said. "It's tough on the coaches, but at the same time we step back and take a look at the victories we've had off the field growing the program."

Why the Wave is winless:

With only 10 seniors on the roster, it is easy to see why St. Edward is still looking for win No. 1. The majority of the Wave's skill players are juniors and sophomores, and although they have shown signs of improvement, they simply haven't been able to match up physically in the Suburban Catholic Conference.

"I think everyone is aware of our situation, kind of resurrecting the program the past year," Rolando said. "We've had freshmen and sophomores playing on varsity the last two years, and you can't compete in this league and at this level without juniors and seniors."

Looking ahead:

After having only 33 players in the program last year, St. Edward has 70 players this year and expects to have 85 suiting up next year. Rolando is also looking forward to having a 40-man varsity roster in 2007.

The Wave has shown signs of improvement this year. Reinforcements are on the way from a freshman team that has beaten Driscoll, St. Francis, Aurora Central and Dundee-Crown this year. With that said, it isn't so hard to believe Rolando's prediction that St. Edward will reach the playoffs next season.

St. Francis (1-6, 1-4) at St. Edward (0-7, 0-5)

When: 7:30 p.m. today at Greg True Field

Last week: IC 24, St. Edward 15; Marian Central 28, St. Francis 14

Last year: St. Francis 49, St. Edward 0

Outlook: It may sound funny but the Spartans are probably the best 1-6 team in the state of Illinois. After opening with nonconference losses against Nazareth (3-4) and St. Viator (6-1), St. Francis lost to Montini (27-24), Marmion (16-10) and undefeated league leader Marian Central (28-14). Their only blowout loss was a 44-7 drubbing by Driscoll. The Spartans have been competitive, but not competitive enough to beat the better football-playing private schools of the western suburbs. But considering how much St. Edward has struggled throughout its current 18-game losing skid, the Spartans pose yet another formidable challenge in a conference with few weak sisters. “No, we’re not deceived by their record at all,” said St. Edward coach Mike Rolando. “They were pretty good last year and they brought most of their talent back. They are going to be big and they are going to be tough. Last year they came out very aggressive and ready to hit. Last week I think IC may have looked past us a little bit and we gave them a game, so I hope we can do the same thing with St. Francis. If we could have eliminated 1 of our 3 turnovers against IC, you never know.” The Green Wave enters this game with revitalized after playing four quarters in a close game for the first time since Week 1 against Hampshire. “The guys definitely played hard to the end, which is really a confidence booster,” Rolando said. “And it’s been nice to see them continue to feed off it during practice this week. I’ve told our guys all year that they are better than what they’ve shown so far. Hopefully, the success they had last weekend will help their confidence and carry over to this week.”

The St. Edward football team might be winless, but it was not going to roll over for Immaculate Conception on Friday night.

The Green Wave scored first and held two first-quarter leads before the Knights scored 12 unanswered points as Immaculate Conception left Elgin with a 24-15 victory.

“We’ve had a down year so far and haven’t been able to respond to adversity,” Knights coach Bill Schmidt said. “We didn’t expect it to be a ballgame, and once it was, and things didn’t go our way at the beginning, our kids didn’t pack it in.”

IC (3-4 overall, 2-3 Suburban Catholic) tried a fake punt in the opening possession of the game, but failed to convert, giving St. Edward the ball on the Knights’ 22-yard line. It took the Green Wave (0-7, 0-5) five plays to get into the end zone. Matt Ardiente scored on a 2-yard run with 8:27 left as St. Edward took a 7-0 lead.

Knights quarterback Kevin Koch connected with Scott Schmidt for a 61-yard pass down to the Green Wave 4 on the next play from scrimmage. Jonathan Ellis scored from a yard out with 6:45 left, but the extra point was missed.

The Knights took a 12-7 lead with 2:37 remaining in the first quarter on a 36-yard touchdown run from Ellis. The 2-point conversion run failed. Ellis finished with 172 yards on 14 carries.

“He’s been the workhorse for us all year long,” Bill Schmidt said. “Teams are putting eight in the box and he is still gaining the tough yards. He’s played big for us.”

Ardiente gave St. Edward the lead again on the ensuing kickoff. He took the kick 87 yards for a score. He broke through a couple of tackles and fought through a face mask, which was called. A fake extra-point attempt was run in by Ryne Siazon as the Green Wave went up 15-12.

IC took an 18-15 lead on Koch’s 1-yard keeper with 9:24 remaining in the first half. The extra point was missed again.

The game stayed that way until the final play of the third quarter.

After the Green Wave turned the ball over on downs after taking more than 7¨ minutes off the clock, Ellis took a handoff up the middle, broke it outside to the right and scored his third touchdown on an 81-yard run.

“That was definitely a back breaker,” St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. “But the kids didn’t give up. That was the last play of the third quarter and they didn’t give anything up in the fourth. The defense again played well.”

Koch threw for 104 yards for the Knights, but was picked off three times by St. Edward’s Josh Scholly.

The Green Wave’s Moises Quiroga rushed for 96 yards on 22 carries. Ardiente finished with 59 yards on 16 carries. St. Edward threw one interception, lost two fumbles and turned the ball over on downs three times in the second half.

The Green Wave failed to convert on a pair of key fourth-down plays to fall 24-15 in Suburban Catholic Conference play.

"I'm extremely proud of the way the kids played," St. Edward coach Mike Roland said. "We were in it through the fourth quarter. WE just had too many mistakes on offense. Those are mistakes that inexperienced young teams make, but we're getting there."

The Green Wave (0-7, 0-5) was driving trailing 18-15 in the third quarter, moving the ball from their own 20 to the Knights' 15-yard line.

However, a failed pass attempt that saw St. Edward quarterback Ryan Gilbert chased out of bounds at the 18-yard line on fourth-and-2, gave IC (3-4, 2-3) the ball back.

The Knights took advantage when Jonathon Ellis went 82 yards down the right sideline on the last play of the quarter. IC led 24-15 after a failed 2-point try.

St. Edward mounted another long drive in the fourth quarter, using more than six minutes to move from its own 26-yard line to inside the Knights' 10-yard line with just over a minute to play.

A 6-yard touchdown run by Mark Osiecki was called back when the Wave was flagged for aiding the runner. St. Edward settled for a field-goal attempt that was blocked with 41 seconds left. With no timeouts, the Wave was out of chances.

St. Edward had a golden opportunity early when a failed IC punt-fake gave the Wave a short field. Matt Ardiente capped a 22-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run that put St. Edward ahead 7-0 with 8:27 left in the first.

IC drew within 7-6 on its next drive on a 1-yard Ellis run. Ellis scampered for 21 yards later in the first to put the Knights ahead 12-6.

Ardiente returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yard to put the Wave back on top 15-12.

However, an Ardiente fumble on the St. Edward 30-yard line set up a short drive that put IC ahead 18-15 at halftime.

Moises Quiroga led St. Edward with 84 yards on 19 rushes. Ardiente picked up 62 yards on 18 carries.

Green Wave defensive back Josh Scholly picked off IC quarterback Kevin Koch three times.

St. Ed hangs tough, but Cadets pull away late

The forecast on Saturday called for sunny skies, so perhaps the drenching rainstorm which suddenly arrived during the first half of Marmion’s homecoming game carried a bit of symbolism.

What began as an anticipated walk in the park for the Cadets against winless St. Edward turned worrisome instead, before Marmion managed to shake the persistent Green Wave with a big fourth quarter en route to a 34-0 victory.

Visions of a running clock in the second half and a quick exit to enjoy the festivities turned to consternation for Marmion, which scored just one offensive touchdown over the first three quarters and lost its starting quarterback, John Konovodoff, with a separated shoulder late in the first quarter.

It certainly was not the type of outing the playoff-minded Cadets expected against a St. Edward team which has not posted a victory since 2004.

“Yes,” Marmion coach Dan Thorpe said, “it was ugly.”

It looks good on the ledger, though, as Marmion (4-2, 3-1) moved one step closer to becoming playoff-eligible while St. Edward (0-6, 0-4) lost its 17th consecutive game.

But the Green Wave created plenty of nervousness and anxiety on Marmion’s sideline. Despite a 91-yard return for a touchdown by Jake Walker on the opening kickoff, Marmion led just 14-0 entering the fourth quarter, at which point nothing was certain.

The Cadets’ offense finally cranked it up, with 20 points in the game’s final 9 minutes.

“We didn’t move the ball a whole lot, did we?” Thorpe said. “I take my hat off to St. Edward. They played us hard and hung in there.”

But in the end, Marmion posted its third 30-plus game of the season as running back Brian Petrando continued his streak of 100-yard rushing games, topping the century mark for the sixth time with 128 yards on 13 carries and touchdown runs of 25 and 48 yards.

Konovodoff — who missed two weeks earlier this year with a separated shoulder — re-injured the same shoulder late in the first quarter when he was sacked by Eric Guerrero, one of four first-half sacks by St. Ed’s blitzing defensive back.

“Losing John was tough,” Thorpe said. “When you lose your leader like that, you start looking over your shoulder a little bit.”

Indeed, the Cadets went scoreless for the next two quarters before backup Manny Juarez ignited a scoring drive, highlighted by a 24-yard pass to Mike Ledvora.

In between, it was tough going for Marmion’s offense.

“Our defense had more stops today than we’ve had all year,” St. Edward coach Mike Rolando. “We hung with them for most of the game, and for a team as young as ours, that’s encouraging to see.”

Moises Quiroga started at quarterback for St. Edward, but Ryan Gilbert played the majority of the game, completing 5 of 17 passes for 78 yards. Cory Diaz had 2 receptions for 58 yards, but the Green Wave was shut out for the second straight week.

Marmion’s Brian Naughton lived a backup’s dream. Late in the fourth quarter, on his only carry of the game, the senior burst free for a 51-yard TD run with just over one minute remaining.

“Brian has been in the weight room every day for the last two years; I’m really happy for him,” Thorpe said.

“I’m sure they (Marmion) probably expected to be up by more than 14 at halftime and some of our kids probably thought we’d be down by more than 14,” Rolando said. “We have to keep getting those little tastes of success like that and when we do, we’ll just continue to get better and better.”

St. Edward (0-5, 0-3)

at Marmion (3-2, 2-1)

Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday.

Last year: Marmion 41, St. Edward 0.

Last week: Montini 56, St. Edward 0; Marmion 16, St. Francis 10.

Players to watch: Linebacker Sean Geraghty was a force last week with 8 solo tackles, 6 assists and an interception. Sean Fichtel had 2 interceptions in the final three minutes to preserve Cadets’ win. Meanwhile, Brian Petrando ran his season total to 683 yards rushing with his fifth consecutive 100-yard game. Last week’s loss to Montini may have been rough in terms of how the scoreboard looked, but Green Wave coach Mike Rolando saw a number of strong individual efforts from the likes of Moses Quiroga, Josh Scholly and Matt Ardiente. “We had some good running from Moses,” said Rolando. “He had 6 carries for 60-something yards and then he banged up his shoulder and didn’t play in the fourth quarter. Josh played good pass defense and made some solid tackles, so we’re seeing yet another young guy contributing for us.” Freshman two-way starter Nathan Gaig and sophomore wingback Steve Jones have been out recently with injuries for the Green Wave, who are looking to break a 16-game losing streak.

Outlook: This is the second in a crucial three-game stretch for Marmion, which can make itself playoff-eligible with a win here and next week vs. Aurora Central. Marmion is favored in both games and must take advantage, for the Cadets end their season with back-to-back matchups against the conference’s big dogs, Marian Central and Driscoll. “We need to take care of business,” coach Dan Thorpe said. Marmion’s defense has produced a remarkable 18 takeaways thus far, including 5 interceptions last week. “That’s a credit to our athletes in the secondary,” Thorpe said, “and also a credit to (assistant coach) Tim Betustak. He’s come up with some great schemes and the kids have executed those schemes well.”

Bottom line: The table is set for Marmion. With this and next week’s game at Aurora Central, the Cadets face two teams with a combined 1-9 record and must capitalize. With Marmion’s strong schedule, five wins would most assuredly guarantee a playoff berth. Then the Cadets can take their best shots at Marian and Driscoll in their final two games.

Green Wave losing streak hits 16; Marian puts an end to Driscoll’s winning ways 21-0

By Jerry Fitzpatrick
Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Sunday, September 24, 2006

Montini’s homecoming is still a week away, but the Broncos looked right at home on Greg True Field in Elgin Saturday afternoon.

Montini scored touchdowns on its first 5 possessions, all in the first quarter, and the defense held St. Edward to 52 total yards in a 56-0 victory over the Green Wave in Suburban Catholic action.

The loss was St. Edward’s 16th straight.

Montini quarterback Pete Cappetta threw for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns on 7-of-10 passing and Dex Jones rushed 3 times for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the charge.

The win is the third straight for the Broncos (3-2, 3-0) and sets the stage for next Friday night’s showdown against Marian Central (5-0, 3-0), a 21-0 winner over SCC power Driscoll on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the Green Wave (0-5, 0-3), they didn’t catch the focused Broncos looking ahead.

On St. Edward’s first play from scrimmage the Wave attempted a double reverse flea-flicker pass, but Montini defensive back Dan Stelter set an early tone by intercepting the underthrown pass.

The Montini offense needed only 1 play to capitalize as Cappetta connected over the middle with Joseph Florio for a 35-yard scoring strike and a 7-0 lead.

Montini defenders Nicholas Gianfortune, Max Kaiser and Cory Brown also snared first-half interceptions.

“Yeah, we gave them some help,” said Green Wave coach Mike Rolando, who tried to remain upbeat. “But it was a beautiful day. I’ve got a dream job; I’m coaching high school football and I’ve got a lot of good, young kids. We’ll get there. The kids have a long way to go. But we keep getting better. We’re ahead of where we were last year. We’ll get there.”

Montini outgained St. Edward, a rebuilding program with an exceptionally young varsity team, 414 yards to 52.

St. Edward managed 4 first downs in the game, 2 of which were the result of 9 and 42-yard runs by fullback Moises Quiroga. But those bursts were of little consolation to the sophomore.

“Montini is tough, but we didn’t come out with any fire — nothing,” Quiroga said. “We just came out thinking we were going to get stepped on and that’s what happened.”

Montini (2-2, 2-0) at  St. Edward (0-4, 0-2)

Suburban Catholic Conference

Game time: 1 p.m., Saturday.

Last year: Montini 61, St. Edward 7.

Last week: Montini 35, Marmion 0; Aurora Central 41, St. Edward 28.

Outlook: Entering as the prohibitive favorite, especially coming off what coach Chris Andriano called its top game this season, Montini’s concern is simply improving timing and locking down the mental approach. “We don’t want to take a step back,” Andriano said. Against Marmion it was full speed ahead. Broncos quarterback Pete Cappetta accounted for 378 yards and 3 touchdowns, Tim Fugger had a breakout day at receiver with 6 catches for 128 yards, and the defense contained the run and denied the big play. St. Edward couldn’t do that, allowing 35 second-half points to squander a first-half lead. Moises Quiroga, a dual RB-LB like solid Green Wave pal Matt Ardiente, had 16 carries, 115 yards.

Next week: Marian Central at Montini; St. Edward at Marmion.

St. Edward led 15-6 at halftime Friday against Aurora Central Catholic but was buried beneath a second-half brotherly scoring avalanche.

Mike and Mark Adams combined for five second-half touchdowns and rallied Aurora Central for a 41-28 victory.

Mike Adams scored on runs of 16 and 25 yards in the second half and threw scoring passes of 16, 25 and 25 yards to Mark. Mark Adams also had a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Mike Adams finished with 19 rushes for 159 yards to lead ACC (1-3, 1-1) in the Suburban Catholic Conference.

St. Edward had scored on Moises Quiroga's 16-yard TD run and a 60-yard fumble return by Matthew Ardiente in the first half. Quiroga's two-point run after his own TD had given the Wave their 15-6 halftime edge.

In the second half, Ardiente had a 1-yard TD run and Ryan Gilbert hit Cory Diaz for a 33-yard TD pass.

Quiroga finished with 104 yards on 14 carries for St. Edward (0-4, 0-2).

By Darryl Mellema
Daily Herald Correspondent
Posted Saturday, September 16, 2006

Few people who sat through the scoreless first quarter of Friday’s Aurora Central-St. Edward football game would have predicted that 69 points would be scored before the contest ended.

Yet the game turned from a 15-6 St. Edward halftime margin to