One thing stood out for Sandburg coach Sheamus Murphy after the Eagles snapped Montini’s 25-game winning streak with a 35-28 home victory against the Broncos on Aug. 28.
“Our relentlessness,” Murphy said. “The kids battled for all 48 minutes. We knew it was going to be a good fight. You don’t win 25 games in a row for no reason.
“I’m just really proud of our kids and their relentless effort. Our offense, defense and special teams — just all three phases got it done.”
Anchoring the attack for Sandburg (2-0) was senior quarterback Sean Ruisz, who missed the Eagles’ Week 1 win against Riverside-Brookfield with an injury. The 6-2, 195-pounder, who accounted for 405 yards of total offense, scored on a 15-yard run to put the Eagles up 35-21 with 2:50 left in the game.
Before that, Ruisz scored on a 5-yard run in the third quarter and a 50-yard run in the opening period. He finished with 14 carries for 171 yards for an average of 12.2 yards per attempt.
He also was impressive through the air, completing 14 of 17 passes for 234 yards, including a 15-yard TD strike to NIU recruit Lucas Matykiewicz (eight catches, 85 yards) that made it 21-7 for the Eagles with 1:09 left in the second quarter. Ruisz also connected with Kendall McDowell on a pair of passes totaling 47 yards.
“Sean had one of the best offensive performances that I’ve ever seen and ever been a part of,” Murphy said. “Sean put the team and put the program on his back. Sean’s a special talent. He can beat you with his legs and he can beat you with his arm.
“He overcame a lot of adversity this offseason coming back from a pretty serious (labrum) injury. Through that, I think that experience made him stronger physically, mentally and emotionally and we saw a great performance (Friday) night.”
As well as Ruisz played, he was by no means the only contributor for Sandburg. Quinn Durkin added 127 yards of total offense and senior defensive end Jason Buechele chipped in a 26-yard TD on a fumble return at 7:31 of the second quarter for a 14-7 Eagles advantage.
“I’m super proud of the kids,” Murphy said. “They were pretty fired up. It was our senior night and there was an element of ‘do it for the seniors,’ but more importantly, do it for Orland Park. It goes to show that homegrown programs can win big-time football games.
“We had a senior group of Durkin, Ruisz, Matykiewicz, (Todd) Shelton and all these guys who decided to stay together. We’re seeing the fruits of that labor and the fruits of that decision. When you stay together and get developed together since you were kids all the way up to the varsity, it’s a homegrown program. I’m super excited for the Orland Park community.”