Barrington shuts out Conant, continues its midseason surge

Barrington’s football community has always stood out from others around the area, especially in the northern suburbs. The Broncos’ annual success seemed to come from longtime coach Joe Sanchez and an extremely supportive local atmosphere.

So it was surprising to hear the Barrington players felt their fans turned on them during their winless start to the season. The Broncos lost to Lyons, Lincoln-Way Central, Naperville North and Hersey after opening the year in the preseason Super 25 rankings.

“Everyone said Barrington fell off,” senior linebacker Owen Nichols said.

“Our fans and other friends all didn’t believe in us,” junior running back Lamar Osterhues said. “We had a phrase on our team: ‘stay on that side.’ We have our family right here. We know what we can do. We came in every week on Monday and believed in each other.”

Things are turning around for Barrington now. The Broncos have won three consecutive games after shutting out visiting Conant 42-0 on Saturday.

“If I am being honest, I don’t really pay much attention [to what the fans are saying],” Sanchez said. “We have enough of our own issues here. We just have to focus on us. Certainly it was an atypical start for us. I’ve been here 31 years. Twenty-five as the head coach. We haven’t played that tough of a four-game stretch at the beginning of the year ever. Those were four great teams. And we were young, and we had some injuries.”

Sanchez and Osterhues both credited the scout team, nicknamed “The Dirty Show,” for helping Barrington get its season back on track.

“We have a great senior group that didn’t give in and kept fighting,” Sanchez said. “I am proud of our kids and our coaches and excited that we get some more meaningful games in October.”

Barrington’s defensive line dominated the first half and even scored a touchdown when lineman Cru Lucier fell on the ball in the end zone after Duke Matiyow blocked a Conant punt.

Osterhues, one of the state’s top running backs, finished with nine carries for 60 yards. He scored on a 25-yard and a 24-yard touchdown run.

Nichols returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown late in the first half to make it 35-0.

“That was just so cool,” Nichols said. “I saw some of our D-linemen making blocks. I had to break that one tackle and I was just off.”

Barrington quarterback Archer Haley was 5-for-6 passing for 65 yards. He threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Vince Costa in the second quarter.

“That is a really good Conant team,” Sanchez said. “People are going to just see the score. [Conant] was in that game last week against Fremd. It was 17-12 midway through the third. Those guys were fighting.”

Barrington (3-4, 3-0 MSL West) will qualify for the state playoffs. The Broncos wrap up the season against Fremd and Schaumburg.

Conant (5-2, 0-2) completed just two passes for 46 yards.

“We knew what we were running into,” Cougars coach Anthony Donatucci said. “They had dudes. I am disappointed in how we competed, and that goes on us as coaches. That is our fault. We didn’t prepare them the best. Today was a reflection on coaching, all of us.”