Sandburg’s Quinn Durkin developed a strong bond over the years with coach Troy McAllister.
McAllister first noticed Durkin in seventh grade. Two years later, McAllister trusted Durkin enough to put him on varsity for the Eagles. McAllister then left in the offseason for Homewood-Flossmoor.
“Yeah, I had a pretty good relationship with him — having him bring me up freshman year was a big experience for me,” Durkin said. “And he kept me up for sophomore year. That was big, too.”
Durkin came through with a big performance in the reunion with his former coach Friday night.
The junior receiver/running back took a swing pass from Sean Ruisz and raced 85 yards for a touchdown the first time he touched the ball, setting the tone for host Sandburg in a 31-7 Southwest Valley Blue victory over H-F in Orland Park.
The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Durkin finished with three catches for 101 yards and also ran nine times for 55 yards to lead Sandburg (5-0, 3-0). He had an electrifying 60-yard run chopped down to a moderate 5-yard gain because of a holding call.
Putting on a big show in front of his old coach, though, wasn’t as important as winning the game.
“I thought about it all week, but from that first snap, I flushed it out,” Durkin said of playing against McAllister. “It was just us against them and it didn’t matter who was on the other sideline.”
Senior running back Luke Basiorka, who has been on varsity since his sophomore year for Sandburg, produced 150 yards on 17 carries with a 29-yard TD run. Ruisz threw for 140 yards.
Besides the TD pass to Durkin, Ruisz also connected with Lucas Matykiewicz for another TD and added 60 yards on ground as the Eagles totaled 405 yards of offense. Senior kicker Drew Drzonek made a 49-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
In the end, it was too much Durkin. And too much Basiorka.
“They are the best one-two punch in the Chicago area,” Sandburg coach Sheamus Murphy said. “Quinny Durkin was doing Quinny Durkin things, man. Our whole philosophy when we met was we really wanted to build the offense around him. We want to get him the ball in a lot of different ways.
“Luke is our power back, but he’s so patient when he runs. He kind of sets it up, and with those big runs, sometimes it just takes a little time to hit.”
Rahsaan Coleman hit back for H-F (3-2, 2-1), throwing for 207 yards, including a 56-yard TD to Myles Ellis. Sophomore running back Layden Williams chipped in with 62 yards on 13 carries.
H-F’s performances this year are for McAllister. Last season, when he was Sandburg’s coach, the Eagles rolled to a 63-34 win. This time, his task was to slow down monsters he helped create.
And what monsters they turned out to be. Basiorka said that he has been working hard to get faster. He has the attention of both North Central College and Wisconsin-La Crosse.
And Basiorka confirmed that Durkin’s first catch-and-run play was huge.
“It gets all those nerves out that you have before a game,” Basiorka said. “Once I saw that run and him going down the sideline, I was ready to go. I knew we had it.”
Durkin, meanwhile, is getting interest from North Dakota State and Miami of Ohio. He’s also a baseball standout, although he said he hasn’t heard much yet from colleges for that sport.
After the game, Murphy told his players that it was the first time Sandburg has started a season with a 5-0 record since 1998. Durkin described this year’s group of Eagles as “electric.”
In Durkin’s mind, this is only the beginning.
“We’re thinking big this year,” he said.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.