Palatine bounces back from opening week loss with big 42-17 win over Buffalo Grove

After a tough 34-31 opening loss on the road in the final minutes last week at St. Charles North, Palatine’s football team made its season debut at home on Friday night.

And to the delight of its big student body and fan base in the west stands of Chic Anderson Stadium, the Pirates made themselves right at home with a 42-17 triumph over visiting Buffalo Grove in the Mid-Suburban crossover game.

“We told the kids losing can make you winners,” said Pirates coach Corey Olson. “They had the right mentality to come back from last week. We got off to a little bit of a slow start offensively, but the defense was consistent all the way. Our running and passing game was there.”

Buffalo Grove (1-1) scored first with a 41-yard field by Carson Gerhardt with 2:42 left in the first quarter.

However, running and passing behind the offensive line of sophomore Evan Downer, senior Ryan Kick, junior Parker Brault, sophomore Tony Balanganayi and junior Frank Stark, the Pirates answered with 28 points in the second quarter.

Tulane recruit Dominik Ball finished the game with 182 yards and 3 touchdowns while playing the game’s first 25 minutes.

“He is a stud and he makes us look like studs,” Kick said of the senior running back who ran for 133 yards last week with 2 touchdowns. “It was great to get back home and play like this. It was fun. Now we’ve got to get ready for Maine South.”

The Pirates’ offense was ready to go in the second quarter.

The TD parade began with Ball’s 11-yard run which capped a 53-yard drive on the first play of the second quarter (11:55 on the clock) for the 7-3 lead.

The Pirates’ Filep Rolek then recovered a fumble at the BG 19-yard line forced by Daevion Farrow’s hit. Five plays later, Trey Widlowski made it into the end zone on an 11-yard run out of the Wildcat formation for a 14-3 advantage with 9:12 left.

The lead extended to 21-3 when Ball raced around the right end, then cut back to the middle of the field for a 49-yard TD scamper that made it 21-3 with 5:53 left in the half.

The hosts enjoyed a 28-3 cushion heading to halftime thanks to a perfect 30-yard TD pitch from senior QB Tommy Elter to classmate Tyson Moorer who caught the high lob between defenders just inside the goal line with 51.7 seconds left.

On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Ball made his presence felt again with a big burst up the middle for a 66-yard TD jaunt that made it 35-3.

BG senior Anthony Palano ran for 9-yard for a TD with 4:09 left in the third quarter to make it 35-10.

Palatine scored its final TD when Jesse Blake scored from 10 yards out to make it 42-10 with 11:53 left in the game. Alek Huyser booted all 6 extra points for the hosts.

BG backup QB Jason DeWald’s 12-yard run capped the scoring with three minutes left in the game before Gerhardt kicked his second extra point.