Barrington shuts out Conant, continues its midseason surge

Barrington started 0-4 and heard plenty about it. The Broncos have outscored their last three opponents 122-21.

By Talia Ramos | HSPrepSports.com

SEO title: Barrington Shuts Out Conant 42-0, Wins Third Straight | Illinois HS Football
Meta description (154 characters): Barrington started 0-4 and heard it from everyone. Now the Broncos have won three straight, capped by a 42-0 shutout of Conant. Here's how the turnaround happened.
Slug: barrington-conant-42-0-football-2026

Four weeks into the season, the Barrington timeline wrote itself: preseason Super 25 team, 0-4 start, done.

"Everyone said Barrington fell off," senior linebacker Owen Nichols told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Broncos didn't argue with anybody online. They went to work. Saturday they shut out Conant 42-0 at home, their third straight win, and the comeback arc is officially a thing (MaxPreps).

The 0-4 start wasn't what it looked like

Look at who they lost to before you call them cooked. Barrington opened with Lyons, Lincoln-Way Central, Naperville North and Hersey, back to back to back to back (MaxPreps):

L 24-19 at Lyons
L 28-14 vs. Lincoln-Way Central
L 21-7 vs. Naperville North
L 38-7 at Hersey

Coach Joe Sanchez has been at Barrington for 31 years, 25 of them as head coach. He told the Sun-Times he'd never opened a season with a four-game stretch that tough, and that his team was young and dealing with injuries. Translation: the schedule did them no favors.

The glow-up, by the numbers
Stretch Points for Points against
Games 1-4 (0-4) 47 111
Games 5-7 (3-0) 122 21

That's a different team. In the last three games they beat Hoffman Estates 49-21, won 31-0 at Palatine and shut out Conant 42-0. Back-to-back shutouts, and nobody has scored on them in eight quarters (MaxPreps).

Barrington is now 3-4 overall and 3-0 in the Mid-Suburban League West. The Sun-Times reports the Broncos will qualify for the state playoffs.

How the Conant game went

The defense set the tone, then the defense scored too (Sun-Times):

The first touchdown was a blocked punt. Duke Matiyow got a hand on a Conant punt and lineman Cru Lucier fell on it in the end zone.
Lamar Osterhues scored on runs of 25 and 24 yards and finished with 60 yards on nine carries. The junior is one of the top running backs in Illinois, and they barely needed him.
Anthony Ermilio broke a 46-yard touchdown run to make it 28-0 late in the first half.
Owen Nichols then picked off a pass and took it back 75 yards for a touchdown, making it 35-0 at the break.
Archer Haley went 5 of 6 for 65 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown pass to Vince Costa.

Conant finished with two completions for 46 yards. The Cougars drop to 5-2 overall and 0-2 in the league.

Respect to the scout team

Sanchez and Osterhues both credited Barrington's scout team, which goes by "The Dirty Show," for getting the season back on track. The scout team plays the next opponent's offense and defense in practice all week. It never shows up in a box score, but this is the kind of turnaround it makes possible.

What's next
Friday, Oct. 9: at Fremd
Friday, Oct. 16: vs. Schaumburg

Hot take: Barrington wins both, finishes 5-4, and nobody in the 8A bracket wants to see them in Round 1. Remember who scheduled the four toughest openers in the area.

So was Barrington ever actually "fell off"? Or did people just read the record and skip the schedule? Comments are open.

Sources

Chicago Sun-Times: Barrington shuts out Conant, continues its midseason surge
MaxPreps: Barrington vs. Conant box score
MaxPreps: Barrington 2026 schedule