Aaron Everson leads Bartlett in rout

Senior running back Aaron Everson did more than rush the ball for 269 yards and score five touchdowns for Bartlett against Elgin Friday in a 49-7 victory at Elgin’s Memorial Field.

He also provided a bit of counseling. Sophomore quarterback Jordan Flint had lost a fumble deep in Bartlett territory the first series.

“I told him to focus; it’s just one play,” Everson said. “It’s like the whole team had a big talk on the sidelines, the seniors.”

Flint and senior Kyle Garcia replaced starting quarterback Steve Hrbacek, who was lost for the season with a broken collarbone in Week 1. It made little difference in terms of the offense Friday, as they held onto the ball after the lost fumble and kept on giving it to Everson. He ran 24 times, all in the first half, and led Bartlett (1-1) to a 42-0 halftime edge.

“Aaron is our go-to guy,” Bartlett coach Tom Meaney said. “That’s no surprise. He’s our top running back. He’s a state qualifier in track.

“He works hard in the weight room and he broke a few tackles tonight.”

The Hawks, coming off a 49-0 season-opening loss to Wheaton North, needed to throw only one pass as their offensive line and defense dominated Elgin (0-2). They had a 295 to minus-9 yardage advantage by halftime and set up a running clock for the entire second half.

“It’s a better feeling than we had last week,” Meaney said.

Bartlett outgained Elgin 345 yards to 89 and had 17 first downs to five. In the end, that initial fumble meant nothing as the Hawks scored touchdowns their next six times with the ball in the first half.

Everson scored on runs of 46, 11, 25, 10, and 11 yards. Garcia added a 7-yard bootleg TD run in the second quarter and Titus Ayomidele broke an 86-yard fourth-quarter kickoff return for a TD.

Coming off a 54-12 loss to Dundee-Crown, Elgin (0-2) had nine more players available than it had last week when it dressed just 17. The Maroons kept fighting and scored on Jaylen Clemons’ 6-yard TD run with 4:45 to play after quarterback Ryan Sitter completed a 45-yard pass to Daniel Page.

“Just a little something for working hard,” Elgin coach Dave Bierman said of the TD. “We have good kids. No question about it. I tell them don’t you dare start liking it, don’t get used to it, just keep working and fighting and staying positive together.”

Sitter completed 7-of-21 for 100 yards.