Just another day at the office for Cary-Grove
It is no secret why sophomore fullback Tyler Pennington was able to run 69 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage of Cary-Grove's 54-20 homecoming win against McHenry on Saturday.
Nor is it a mystery why he was able to dash 73-yards to the end zone on his final carry midway through the third quarter.
Beyond being talented in his own right, Pennington benefits from playing behind arguably the most physical offensive line in Cary-Grove history, a unit led by Notre Dame-bound Trevor Ruhland (6-foot-4, 270 pounds), four-year starter Michael Gomez (6-0, 260) and veteran center Scott Topole (6-5, 240).
Ruhland and Gomez also played on the defensive line until Cary-Grove's starters were pulled late in the third quarter with the No. 2 team in The Associated Press Class 7A poll leading 47-7.
"When they have a 6-foot-4, 270-pound guy, it's tough to stop that offensively and defensively," McHenry coach Dave D'Angelo said. "You just try to play assignment football when you're running the option and sometimes you get overmatched. That's why they're ranked No. 2 in the state."
The Trojans lined up in the flexbone triple option and challenged the Warriors to stop them. Cary-Grove attempted only 2 passes. There was no need to throw since they ran the ball 37 times for 444 yards (12-yard avg.), starting with Pennington's breakaway out of the gate.
"It was an option play," said Pennington, who carried 7 times for 174 yards and 4 touchdowns. "They just gave me the ball and I just ran. Pretty simple as that."
Cary-Grove scored 5 first-half touchdowns to take a 34-7 lead. The Trojans added 3 more scores in the third quarter to invoke a running clock with 24 seconds left.
The victory guarantees Cary-Grove (6-0, 3-0 Fox Valley Valley) a playoff spot for the 11th straight season. It was also the Trojans' 11th straight victory over the Warriors.
"We're playoff eligible so we're excited," Gomez said.
McHenry (2-4, 0-2) didn't give in, though. Trailing 14-0, the Warriors drove 65 yards in 12 plays. Michael Briscoe's 19-yard pass to Scott Marunde set up Briscoe's touchdown sneak on the next play to halve the deficit to 14-7.
The Warriors then recovered an onside kick and drove to the Cary-Grove 27 before Ruhland, Zach McQuade and Travis Myerson smothered Marunde for a 9-yard loss on fourth down after he recovered an errant shotgun snap. The Trojans then scored 33 unanswered points.
"Physically, I thought coming in that if we executed our game, we could run the ball against almost any front," Ruhland said. "We didn't really know what front they were going to be in since they showed so many fronts (on film). So it was just kind of running our game and adjusting to what they did. I thought we did a pretty good job of it."
Cary-Grove quarterback Jason Gregoire breached the end zone on 2 of his 4 carries, sophomore reserve running back Kyle Pressley ran for 89 yards and a touchdown in 9 attempts and backup quarterback John Sullivan rushed for 25 yards and a score.
Defensively, the Trojans got sacks from Pennington, Gomez and junior Kevin Moran and held the Warriors to 206 total yards. Willie Hartke and McQuade each intercepted Briscoe, who completed 9 of 19 attempts for 112 yards.
"I don't know if anybody's going to stop this team in the state," D'Angelo said of the Trojans. "They're pretty darned good and they're well coached."