Four Downs: News and notes from Week 6 in high school football

Sandburg beats Lincoln-Way East. York beats Glenbard West. Naperville North beats Naperville Central.

The upsets just keep coming this season. It appears no traditional power is safe.

The Sandburg win was definitely this week’s biggest surprise but it doesn’t come close to reaching the level of St. Ignatius’ triumph over Mount Carmel in Week 5. The Eagles have been a football powerhouse in the past. Their last win against Lincoln-Way East was a 23-22 triumph in the 2007-08 season though, so it has been a long while.

Sandburg entered the game just 1-4, but all four losses were to good teams: Prospect, Glenbrook South, Bolingbrook and Lockport. None of the scores gave an indication that this upset was brewing however.

New Eagles coach Troy McAllister, who led Phillips to two state titles, saw potential in his team.

“The Bolingbrook game was 14-6 at half and we had a touchdown called back,” McAllister said. “We just came out flat in the second half.”

A pair of juniors led the offense for Sandburg. Quarterback Christian Evans was 19-for-25 passing for 306 yards and three touchdowns against Lincoln-Way East. Wide receiver Walter Davis had six catches for 194 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior Kyle Peterson forced a fumble that set up the winning score.

“The young men really executed,” McAllister said. “It was our best game on offense by far. We threw an interception in the end zone but other than that we had a clean game on offense and that had been our downfall.”

Sandburg was likely expecting big things when McAllister arrived this year. Beating the Griffins should be an important first step towards future success.

“Other than the Lockport game we were making a ton of progress each week,” McAllister said. “But without the results it gets difficult sometimes to keep the motivation up. Now this shows them that if you work hard it will be worth it. Moments like Friday night are what makes high school football special. Before the game you’d have thought we had no business playing [Lincoln-Way East].

Jack Lausch makes his case

St. Rita’s Kaleb Brown entered the season as a heavy favorite for Player of the Year honors. His injury in the first few minutes of the season opened the door wide for all the other contenders.

There haven’t been many contenders stepping up over the past few weeks, which made Brother Rice quarterback Jack Lausch’s performance in Week 4 against Loyola such an eye-opener.

The Crusaders lost, but Lausch was 16-for-26 passing for 289 yards with three touchdowns and had 20 carries for 137 yards and three touchdowns. The performance instantly made Lausch a serious contender for POY honors.

Lausch is now the favorite after turning in another terrific game, this time in a 43-36 win against Mount Carmel. Lausch was great again on Friday, finishing 19-for-26 passing for 276 yards and four touchdowns. He had 14 carries for 84 yards.

Next up for Lausch and Brother Rice is a showdown at home against undefeated No. 3 Joliet Catholic.

Respect the Rockets

Richmond-Burton’s 42-20 win against St. Francis on Friday ran up the Rockets’ consecutive win total to 26. That’s even more impressive with all the upsets flying around this season.

Quarterback Joe Miller threw for 161 yards and three touchdowns against Sycamore and running back Brock Wood had 25 carries for 170 yards and two touchdowns.

Richmond-Burton has outscored its opponents 304 to 67 so far this season. The Rockets will be in Class 4A in the state playoffs.

Unbelievable

Glenbard North lost to No. 9 Wheaton North 21-20 on Friday. The Panthers (4-2) scored with 1:24 left to pull within a point. They went for the two-point conversion and the win and didn’t get it.

That’s the same thing that happened Week 5 against No. 8 Batavia. Glenbard North went for two at the end of the game and were stopped. And get this: the score was also 21-20.

What a tough pair of losses. The Panthers are just two plays away from having a perfect start to the season.