‘We’re going to come back even stronger’
Evans, Davis not shaken after Sandburg’s Class 8A playoff loss to Hinsdale Central
Junior quarterback Christian Evans and junior receiver Walter Davis are more than teammates on the same side of the ball for Sandburg.
“We have a strong connection outside of football,” Evans said. “Being able to bring that onto the field and have fun and play is important.
“We’re both going to be back next year and we’re going to come back even stronger.”
Evans and Davis delivered strong efforts Saturday afternoon, hooking up seven times for 178 yards and scoring two touchdowns during the fourth quarter in a 41-15 loss to host Hinsdale Central in the first round of the Class 8A playoffs.
Earlier in the season, Evans and Davis connected six times for 194 yards and two TDs as Sandburg stunned Lincoln-Way East 30-27 to start an improbable winning streak that led the Eagles to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
On Saturday, Sandburg (5-5) trailed 27-0 with 9:38 left in the fourth when Evans found Davis deep and Davis shook off a tackler for 50-yard TD.
Evans, who finished completing 15 of 34 passes for 254 yards, hit Davis for 45 and 30 yards on the other scoring drive.
The game was well in hand for seventh-seeded Hinsdale Central (9-1), but Evans was happy the 26th-seeded Eagles could put the points on the board.
“Not giving up was important,” Evans said. “For us to finish strong is what matters.”
Davis, who had not played football since grade school, enjoyed the progress the Eagles made this season.
“We showed we could move the ball down the field,” Davis said. “Christian and I have been getting close this season. We usually end up going to the field and doing one-on-one drills and stuff like that.
“We’re always working together to try to get better and we’ll do that this offseason.”
The first year of the coach Troy McAllister era was a roller-coaster ride.
Sandburg reached the low point with a 42-0 loss at home to Lockport, falling to 1-4 with a schedule ahead that featured traditional powers Lincoln-Way East and Homewood-Flossmoor.
But the Eagles won out, pulling off the 30-27 shocker against the Griffins and a 28-20 victory over H-F.
“You look at the quality of the young men in this program and you can feel after the Lockport game they took it personal,” McAllister said. “When they came back to practice, they said, ‘We’re going to push through and we’re going to go after this.’
“We set the tone that it was do-or-die time. We went out, got
the big win over East and got the rhythm going.”
Hinsdale Central entered the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak.
After losing 14-2 to Naperville Central in the season opener, the Red Devils have run the table, with a close 27-23 victory over York in Week 7 and a tight 6-0 win over Glenbard West to close the regular season.
Sean Allison did all kinds of damage against Sandburg with an interception, a fumble recovery and a 22-yard run in the second quarter that set up a Red Devils’ TD and broke a scoreless deadlock.
The Red Devils were whistled for six false starts, including three straight during a drive in the first quarter.
Defensively, Alex Szczesniak had two sacks and Dylan Schick added a fumble recovery for Sandburg.
The Eagles were down about the loss but were happy with the big picture.
“It feels good to finally do something this year,” Davis said. “If feels good to get to the playoffs. It’s fun to win.”