Palatine grinds down Barrington, claims MSL West title outright

PALATINE – Palatine lined up Barrington Friday night and came home with a title.

The Pirates, led by their staunch and physical offensive line, ground down Barrington 30-24 before a huge crowd in Palatine. With the win, Palatine (8-1, 5-0) was able to claim the MSL West title outright.

“We are excited,” Palatine coach Corey Olson said. “Our offensive line has been great all year. This is a great offensive line. We are built for the playoffs and cold weather.

It may have been a costly victory for Palatine, who will be a top 10 seed in the Class 8A playoffs and will host a playoff game next weekend. The Pirates’ quarterback Will Santiago was injured midway through the second quarter and later returned with his non throwing shoulder wrapped up.

The Palatine offensive line of Tony Balanganayi, Parker Brault, Nikki Jones, Evan Downer and Frank Stark along with tight end Jaylen Williams muscled Barrington (7-2, 3-2) from the start.

“Our identity is the core of our offensive line,” said Brault, who will play at Marshall University next year. “We can put your grandmother back there and we still will run the ball. We are bunch of hardworking guys.”

Palatine put together a solid drive on their second possession. The Pirates marched 80 yards in 7 plays with Ray Gaspard running right behind his offensive line to crash in from five yards out to make it 7-0.

Palatine came right back in their next possession. This time the run set up the pass With Santiago dropping a screen pass to Kole Fager. Again, the Palatine line got out in front making some key blocks to spring Fager on a 59-yard touchdown a 14-0 lead just before the end of the first quarter.

The game could have turned for Palatine midway through the second quarter.

That’s when Santiago was sacked, landed hard, fumbled the ball and was injured on the play. Barrington recovered and ran to the Palatine 22, where the Broncos fumbled the ball and Palatine recovered.

After a penalty moved the ball back to the 11, the Palatine offensive line, which had been impressive already, really took over.

They locked in on a 12-play, 89 yard drive that was all on the ground and had just one pass, which went incomplete. Fager then took a direct snap and busted off a 24-yard touchdown run with 1:06 left to make it 21-0.

“We are just a bunch of hogs,” said Balanganayi, who also plays defensive line. “We are all a team. We just worked hard today,”

Barrington, which had struggled offensively to that point, found its offensive chops. The Broncos drove the field, scoring with 3.9 seconds left in the half on a one-yard by Nick Peipert to make it 21-7.

Palatine kicked a 22-yard field goal by Alex Huber midway through the third quarter as the Pirates made it 24-7.

Peipert then took the Broncos on his back.

The St. Thomas University commit cut the lead to 24-13 with 8:42 to play on another one-yard run to give Barrington some hope.

That hope became more of a reality when Barrington’s Ryder Carani blocked a punt at the Palatine 33. Three plays later Peipert (21-of-33, 152 yards) hit Ian Tepas for a 16-yard touchdown with 4:01 to play. The duo also connected on the conversion play and it was 24-21.

Palatine’s Jayden Evans the returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards to the Barrington 10. On the next play, Fager ran it in for a touchdown and a 30-21 lead.

“I could go on and on about our offensive line,” said Fager, who finished with 103 yards on 13 carries.

“I think the world of them. I love those guys. We are all a very tight-knit team.”

Barrington did get a 32-yard field goal with 1:13 remains to make it 30-24. But the Pirates’ Jacob Stark recovered the onside kick and Fager broke off a couple of long runs to seal the title for Palatine.

“I am proud of our kids and they way that they fought,” Barrington coach Joey Sanchez said. “It gave us a chance to come back. But we made too many mistakes that we couldn’t overcome.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241025/prep-football/palatine-takes-down-barrington-to-claim-msl-west-title/