WHEATON – St. Francis took care of business in its opening-round Class 5A playoff matchup against Sterling, as standout speedster Zach Washington ran wild in a 42-18 victory Friday in Wheaton.
Washington sprinted the length of the field twice during an electrifying second quarter that put an exclamation point on a dominant Spartans opening half, overwhelming the Golden Warriors with his speed.
The junior wide receiver found the end zone on a 95-yard kickoff return, and he followed that up by scoring on a 92-yard reverse.
“As soon as I got the ball, the outside was closed off, so I tried to reverse it back,” said Washington, explaining the way he zigged and zagged, retreating all the way back into the St. Francis end zone before finding a seam and bursting into the open field.
“But then I saw an opening back to the outside … [and] once I’m straight, there’s no catching me.”
Junior quarterback Brady Palmer got the night started a bit more conventionally for the Spartans by scoring three first-quarter touchdowns, including a 58-yard strike to junior wide receiver Tanner Glock on the first St. Francis snap from scrimmage.
“Our whole philosophy going into this game was to get out ahead quickly and keep the intensity up the whole way,” Palmer said, “just make sure they didn’t have a chance and put it away early.”
Palmer was a dual threat for the Spartans. He made life difficult for Sterling throughout the first half, routinely moving the chains with his legs as well as racing to the end zone on a 21-yard draw play with 5:38 to play in the first quarter.
It was all Spartans by the time they brought junior nose guard Jaylen Torres onto the field to punch in a 3-yard touchdown just before halftime.
“I just saw they had a three-tech on the other side, so the A-gap was wide open,” said Torres, reflecting on his first touchdown. “I just put my head down and got in there.”
The win sends the Spartans back to the second round of the playoffs with momentum as they look to avenge a semifinals loss from last year.
“It’s going to get harder,” St. Francis coach Bob McMillen said. “We’re going to play tougher teams, and we’ve got to get better as a group, because we want to continue to keep this thing going.”
As for Sterling, its season ended. However, coach Jonathan Schlemmer is proud of the effort his team put forth and the Golden Warriors’ season as a whole.
“If you had talked to a lot of people, they probably wouldn’t have thought we’d be standing here tonight,” Schlemmer said. “Credit to our seniors, because our seniors worked really hard. It was a season where we won the games that we had to and we found ways in some close ones. As we got here tonight, we ran into a really talented ballclub.”
Golden Warriors quarterback Drew Nettleton made sure his team did not go down without a fight. He battled all night and eventually threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes, including a 95-yard strike to Kaedon Phillips.
“It was really important, it meant everything to us,” said Nettleton, reflecting on this week. “To work hard every single day, Monday through Friday. … It was a wild ride, I love the Blue and Gold more than anything. So it hurts a lot.”
Schlemmer has his sights set on next fall.
“Our goal is to get back and to be able to compete with teams like that,” he added. “So we’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’ve got to get some kids in the weightroom and get back to work.”
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