Dundee-Crown spoils Mason's debut at Elgin
Dundee-Crown did exactly what it set out to do in Friday night's home opener against Elgin High.
The Chargers established a punishing ground attack behind a much improved offensive line that is anchored by 310-pound senior right tackle Josh Mosley as they racked up 335 yards rushing en route to a 36-13 nonconference win.
The running back tandem of Greg Williams and Patrick Sprouse each surpassed the 100-yard mark. Sprouse barreled his way for 150 yards on 24 carries, including a pair of touchdowns. The fleet-footed Williams ran for 135 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.
"As a coach you kind of want your team to take on your personality," D-C coach Mike Steinhaus said. "I like to play physical and I liked the way our line played real physical tonight. We wanted to go out and impose our will on them."
The Chargers opened the scoring with a long 14-play, 76-yard drive that took over 7 minutes off the clock. It culminated in a 2-yard touchdown run by Michael Grant.
"We knew we wanted to come out and establish the run," Mosley said. "We started firing and getting more movement on that drive. Once we got it working why change it."
The Chargers didn't waste near as much time on their next possession as Williams bolted in the end zone from 33 yards out on the third play and Grant followed with a 2-point conversion run to make it 15-0.
D-C tacked on another score just before the half when quarterback Conor Ryan connected on a 2-yard touchdown pass to Matt Wiechmann following an Elgin interception to make it 23-0 at halftime.
Sprouse added a pair of touchdown runs of 4 and 7 yards in the third quarter to extend the Chargers' advantage to 36-0. Sprouse's second score capped another long 11-play, 84-yard drive.
"Our running game is based on speed and agility," said Sprouse. "Tonight the line was doing the work and making the holes."
The Maroons struggled offensively until finally getting on the board with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Terrance Allen Miller connected on a 65-yard touchdown pass to Lavion Baldwin. The converted basketball player made a spectacular run after the catch at around the Chargers' 40 to get into the end zone. Baldwin had 5 receptions for 132 yards.
Miller tossed a 2 yard touchdown to Shareick Morris on the game's final play for the Maroons second score. Miller threw for 215 yards and also was the Maroons leading rusher with 89 yards on 11 carries.
The Maroons were plagued by 4 turnovers and aside from Allen Miller the Maroons managed zero yards on the ground.
"There were some good things, but we have to get tougher in the trenches," first-year Elgin coach Anthony Mason said. "That's where you win games and tonight we got beat in the trenches."