No. 1 Cary-Grove's momentum just keeps building

As Friday's 49-7 victory at Jacobs demonstrates, nothing slows the momentum of the Cary-Grove football team these days.

Not even a broken body part.

Center Scotty Topole returned to action against Jacobs after missing last week's game with a broken thumb on his right snapping hand, now in a cast.

Rather than switch positions with tackle Trevor Ruhland and risk upsetting the offensive line chemistry of Class 7A's top-ranked team, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound senior instead learned this week to make his left hand dominant on two-handed snaps instead of his right.

There were two bobbled exchanges, but the Trojans otherwise didn't miss a beat. Sophomore fullback Tyler Pennington rushed for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns on 16 carries and Cary-Grove, the state's top-ranked Class 7A team, gained 492 of its 548 total yards on the ground to improve to 7-0 overall, 3-0 in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division.

"If a problem arises, we just find a way to solve it and keep going," Topole said.

Said Jacobs coach Bill Mitz: "That's not an easy thing to do, to play with a cast on your right arm when you're naturally right-handed and then snap with your left hand. That kid did a great job. And that's a very good football team. They do everything well. They're loaded."

Cary-Grove dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the Trojans scored on 5 of their 7 first-half possessions while racking up 351 rushing yards to take a 35-0 halftime lead.

Pennington had 172 of those yards on 13 carries, including touchdown runs of 49 and 60 yards. He added a 50-yard run and a 28-yard touchdown in the second half to balloon the lead to 42-0 with 6:53 left in the third quarter.

"It was a fun night," Pennington said. "We were just trying to get No. 7. We're just trying to get better. That's our goal each week and I think we did that."

Senior running back Josh Walker was the bright spot for Jacobs (4-3, 1-2), which lost its second straight. Walker had 77 yards in the first half and finished with 145 yards in 16 attempts, including a 28-yard touchdown against Cary-Grove's reserves late in the third quarter.

"Walker is so talented that all it takes is one mishap and he's gone," Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg said. "We played real disciplined. To hold them (scoreless) with our starters is real good."