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Sports

Catino Stands Out in Buffalo Grove's Loss to Elk Grove

Bison football team falls for the fourth time on Friday night.

Simply, this is the kid you don't want meet in a dark alley. He's just too imposing.

The roster lists senior Mike Catino at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds. He's a scary linebacker for the Bison, but some colleges might even consider him for an offensive lineman.

, the home team stormed down the field on its first possession like it was going to blow the Grens right off the field. Six plays into the first drive, it was first-and-goal for the BG offense.

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And things slowed down.

Elk Grove grabbed a lead in the fourth quarter and pinned a 17-14 loss on the Bison.

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"We thought we had them," Catino said. "Hats off to them. They were well-coached and disciplined. We just made of a lot of mental mistakes and the momentum shifted. We can fix that."

Catino is product of the Arlington Heights Cowboys program.

"I've been playing football since the first and second grade," he said.

With his good size, he was placed at defensive end. The move to linebacker has worked out well.

"I love playing linebacker," he said. "At middle linebacker there is constant hitting. I get to take control of the defense. It's a leadership role."

Buffalo Grove coach Jim Farrell has a few words to describe his middle linebacker.

"He's a house," Farrell said. "He's a monster. We have four or five stud kids and he's one of them."

Catino isn't thinking of playing Big Ten football right now.

"I hoping to play college football,'' he said. "Maybe at IAA school or the Mac Conference. I can play defensive end and maybe even on the offensive line."

Farrell agrees Catino can play more than one position on the next level.

"He can fill a roster in three or four positions," Farrell said. "He can stay at middle linebacker. We can flip him around to play tight end. He is a formidable tight end and he can catch the ball."

Stat Sheet: The Bison (1-3) opened this contest like they were going to set rushing records. Quarterback Rich Zirngibl was averaging 10 yards a carry after two rushes. Alex Fritz rambled 38 yards on his carry of the night.

Fritz, No. 21, scored from 21 yards out late in the first quarter to put the Bison up. It was 10-0 Bison when kicker Kevin Cho, wearing No. 88, connected from 27 yards give the Bison a 10-0 lead.

Scary Moment: The Bison (1-4) had one last gasp at the end of the game. Speedy back Ryan Schumi took off from deep in BG territory and chalked up 16 yards. And several minutes later, he was laid off on a stretcher. He collided with an Elk Grove defender and both players were knocked down.

"Ryan is tough as nails," Farrell said. "But this really puts everything in perspective."

Schumi recovered quickly from his fall and was at the morning meeting the next day.

Next Kickoff: BG travels to Hersey on Friday night.

"We need to focus for 48 minutes," Farrell said. "We've been able to sustain drives but we've been less productive in the red zone."

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