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A first for Huntley - Red Raiders defeat Cary-Grove

The Huntley football program has arrived.

After failing in their previous 11 attempts over 12 seasons to knock off Fox Valley Conference power Cary-Grove, the Red Raiders broke through Friday night with the signature win over the Trojans they had long sought: a 29-8 victory in front of an estimated crowd of 5,000 in Huntley.

Senior quarterback Anthony Binetti threw 2 touchdown passes and ran for another, sophomore receiver Eric Mooney made 3 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown, senior running back Casey Haayer ran for 94 yards and a swarming defense kept the Cary-Grove triple option offense from scoring until the last 90 seconds of the fourth quarter.

"It's a surreal feeling to beat them finally," Binetti said. "I mean, the first time in the program's history. We knew they were going to play hard-nosed football the entire game. We had to come out and do our jobs."

Binetti and Mooney got to work on Huntley's first possession following a three-and-out by the defense. Binetti converted a third-and-16 pass before hooking up with Mooney for a 42-yard touchdown down the right hash.

"Cary doesn't play with high safeties in the middle," Mooney said, "so we knew coming in that was going to be a huge play for us. The only thing we were tentative about was when I went to wideout - I normally play slot - if they were going to back their guys up. It kind of worked our perfect. I was on the sideline and they called a play and I rushed in. They really had no time to do anything. I made my corner cut. I saw the corner flip his hips. I just knew right then I was going to be open."

Mooney ran in the conversion for an 8-0 lead. He was at it again one possession later when he and Binetti worked the same route over the safety for a 42-yard pickup. The big gain set up first-and-goal at the 6-yard line of Cary-Grove (4-1, 0-1 FVC Valley).

Haayer then bulled his way to the 1-yard line, where he was tackled and ruled to have fumbled. The ball squirted into the end zone and Huntley senior Tim McCloyn pounced on it first for a touchdown. Johnathan Alberts' extra point made it 15-0 with 8:19 left in the second quarter.

Huntley outgained the Trojans 213-83 in the first half as its defense forced a fumble, 3 punts and a turnover on downs.

Cary-Grove threatened with a long, third-quarter drive to the Huntley 12-yard line, but fullback Tyler Pennington was stopped on fourth-and-4 a yard short of the first down by Huntley linebacker Daniel Dennis. The junior was limited 79 yards on 19 carries.

"It was very hard," Pennington said of finding running room against Huntley's defense. "That was a good team over there and they really brought it today. It was a very big game for them. It was a big game for us.

"It was kind of disappointing to see how we came out. I think our youth kind of got in the way a little bit. We were looking in the stands more than we were focused on the game a little bit. We're going to mature from this and we're going to get back at it. We're going to be all right."

Huntley (5-0, 1-0) immediately drove the other way, marching 90 yards in 13 plays. Binetti finished the drive in style, running up the middle untouched for a 13-yard touchdown.

"They bit on the run to Casey," Binetti said of the play fake. "We kept giving it, giving it, giving it to him. Finally, I pulled it, the hole was there and everyone blocked their assignments perfect."

Binetti capped his night with a 13-yard pass to Alec Coss that was tipped halfway between the goal line and the receiver, who somehow hung on.

"Honestly, I didn't really have my eye on it," Coss said. "He tipped it, it went right in my chest and I squeezed it."

Cary-Grove didn't dent the scoreboard until Huntley pulled most of its starting defense when it was 29-0. Pennington finished a drive with a 1-yard run and Collin Walsh's extra point made it 29-8 with 1:30 left in the game, but it wasn't the Trojans' night.

"They executed on some big plays," Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg said. "We had some opportunities that we didn't take advantage of in the first half, and I really think that really changed the whole course of the game. Give them a lot of credit, they did play very, very physical up front and made the plays when they needed to."

Images: Huntley over Cary-Grove, 29-8 in football

  Cary Grove's David Daigle wraps up Huntley wide receiver Alec Coss Friday. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Huntley running back Eric Mooney enters the end zone for a touchdown Friday against Cary-Grove. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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