By Erik Jacobsen ejacobsen@stmedianetwork.com Oct 30, 2010 09:38PM

CHICAGO — St. Edward is starting to run out of major milestones to accomplish.

The Green Wave crossed another landmark achievement off the list Saturday, notching its first postseason victory in program history by pounding Chicago Uplift 44-8 in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs at Lane Stadium.

It was a dominating effort from start to finish for St. Edward (8-2), which tied the 1978 team’s program record for most victories in a single season. The eighth-seeded Titans didn’t record a first down until the game’s final series, and the ninth-seeded Wave enjoyed a running clock throughout the fourth quarter.

The triumph sets up St. Edward’s first home playoff game in school history next week at Greg True Field against Mendota. The Wave lost to Mendota in the first round of the playoffs last year.

“Every year the team has taken it a step further,” said St. Edward coach Mike Rolando, who is in his sixth year at the helm. “As a coach that’s an ideal situation, but eventually that’s got to end because you can only go so far. For six years in a row we’ve gotten better and better and I’m just proud of these guys for accepting that challenge and taking it to the next level.

“They laid out their goals early in the season. They wanted to win the conference, they wanted to win a playoff game, they wanted to play a home playoff game and they wanted to improve on last year’s team. In one fell swoop here today they took care of the home playoff game and a playoff victory. It’s just an awesome day.”

St. Edward wasted no time taking command, marching 47 yards in four plays for a touchdown on the game’s opening possession. Luke Duffy scored on an 8-yard run and then ran in the two-point conversion, giving the Wave an 8-0 advantage 1:13 into the contest.

The rout was on shortly thereafter as junior Ryan Johnson intercepted a pass from Uplift quarterback Jameel Carter on the third play of Uplift’s ensuing drive, setting up sophomore Mo Jackson’s 4-yard touchdown run. St. Edward then recovered an onside kick, and Duffy made it 22-0 when he scored on a 1-yard run with 1:20 left in the first quarter.

While the offense started with a burst, the story of the day was without a doubt the Wave’s defense. Uplift (7-3) had negative-32 yards in the first half and finished with 69 total yards. St. Edward’s defense even got in on the scoring act when Carter recovered two fumbles on the same play but was dropped in the end zone for a 28-yard loss and a safety in the second quarter.

The Titans’ only points came on the final play of the game against St. Edward’s second-string defense when Carter connected with Marcus Sanders for a 21-yard touchdown strike on a pass that was tipped by a Wave defender near the goal line. Carter then hooked up with Sanders again for the two-point conversion.

“We don’t want to give the other team anything,” said Duffy, who in addition to his running back duties also starts at linebacker. “We’re looking for a shutout every game. That’s our mentality.”

In another sign of the lopsided nature of the game, St. Edward started 10 of its 12 drives in Uplift territory. The Wave’s worst field position came when it started at its own 43-yard line on its only possession of the fourth quarter.

A string of dropped passes and a pair of interceptions thrown by St. Edward quarterback Ben Lehman in the second quarter were the only things that kept the Wave from adding on to its scoring total.

Jackson tacked on two more touchdown runs in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 80 rushing yards on six carries. Lehman racked up 121 passing yards, connecting with Sam Pozezinski for his lone touchdown in the second quarter.

“We knew what we had to do, we had to take it to them,” Duffy said. “We took it to them, but I think we might have relaxed a little bit. It came back to bite us (in the second quarter), but we finished and we’re going on. We definitely can’t do that next week.”

Carter tallied 67 of his 71 passing yards on the final drive of the game for Uplift, which was making its first playoff appearance.

The outcome provided plenty of satisfaction for the big and boisterous group of St. Edward fans that traveled to Chicago for the afternoon affair.

“They are just the best fans anywhere,” Rolando said. “I can only imagine what Greg True Field is going to be like next week.”

Added Pozezinski: “It’s an amazing feeling right now. I’m glad about how the team came together and played well. I’m looking forward to playing Mendota again and getting a little rematch with them.”ST. EDWARD 44, CHICAGO UPLIFT 8

St. Edward -22 - 9 - 13 - 0 -- 44

Uplift - 0 - 0 - 0 - 8 -- 8

STED – Duffy 12 run (Olenek kick), 10:47

STED – Jackson 4 run (Olenek kick), 5:25

STED – Duffy 1 run (Olenek kick), 1:20

STED – Safety, 7:06

STED – Pozezinski 12 pass from Lehman (Olenek kick), 5:58

STED – Jackson 37 run (Olenek kick), 4:49

STED – Jackson 19 run (kick failed), 1:35

CU – Sanders 25 pass from Jameel Carter (Sanders pass from Jameel Carter), 0:25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING:

STED: Jackson 6-80, Duffy 9-47, Elam 5-24, Keokanlaya 6-17, Lehman 1-(-8).

CU: Jamal Carter 6-18, Ogunkoya 4-8, Wilson 4-4, Jameel Carter 11-(-32).

PASSING:

STED: Lehman 12-24-2 121.

CU: Jameel Carter 5-17-1 71.

RECEIVING

STED: Olenek 7-50, Pozezinski 2-35, Brockner 1-22, Duffy 2-14.

CU: Sanders 2-67, Slaughter 2-4, Jamal Carter 1-0.