Hampshire slips past Woodstock North
Hampshire used two big bubbles to burst the momentum and lead Woodstock North took into halftime of their Fox Valley Conference Fox Division game on a chilly and blustery Friday night.
Speedy senior Jake Manning took a pair of third-quarter bubble screens from junior Jake Vincent and raced for touchdowns of 53 and 36 yards as the Whip-Purs (4-2, 2-1) rallied for a 34-24 victory at Woodstock North.
"It's nice to get guys open in space," the 5-foot-11, 155-pound Manning said. "We want to get our playmakers out in space and see what we can do."
Vincent was 19-for-26 passing for 210 yards and 4 touchdowns to give the Whips a chance to see what they can do in a big FVC Fox showdown next Friday at perennial power Prairie Ridge (5-1, 4-0). They also matched their win total of last season by responding after Woodstock North (3-3, 1-2) scored twice in less than four minutes to take a 16-14 lead 1:57 before halftime.
Vincent threw fourth-down touchdown passes of 9 yards to Xavier Bennett and 14 yards to Connor Burke for a 14-0 lead. But sophomore Collin Mergl, who came in with only 67 yards passing in the Thunder's triple option, tossed a 32-yard, fourth-down touchdown to Jacob Schmitt.
Schmitt ran for the conversion, Mergl ended Vincent's run of 11 completions to start the game with an interception and Brennen Ward's 39-yard touchdown run and conversion run suddenly put the Thunder in front by 2 points.
"I was surprised but I never thought we were going to lose," said Vincent, who has thrown for 1,652 yards and 17 touchdowns.
"I would say we were still confident," Manning said. "Our defense was shutting them down but we just gave up two big plays. Our offense was moving, too.
"I was confident we could keep moving the ball in the second half and put up some more points."
Even with leading receiver Bennett sidelined with a banged-up leg in the second half. On the third play after the break, Vincent hit Manning on the left side and he raced into the end zone untouched to put the Whips ahead to stay.
"I think it takes 11 players to make that play work," Vincent said. "They weren't putting anyone over Jake so we thought it would be there."
The two Jakes found the play there again for a touchdown and 27-16 lead with 4:04 left in the third.
"I look to read all the blockers, find an opening and hit it," Manning said.
"We've been working hard on that this year, getting kids the ball in space," said Hampshire coach Mike Brasile. "If we get kids the ball in space we're able to do that."
Senior Jared Lund (15 carries, 93 yards) capped the comeback with a 49-yard touchdown run with 3:30 to play. Lund and linebackers Payton Mull and Nicholas Seliga led a defense that kept the Thunder off the scoreboard in the second half until Randall Kline's 9-yard run with 49.6 seconds to play.
"We're going to see the triple option again next week," said Brasile, who credited defensive assistants Ed Haugens, Alan Thompson and Brian Iossi for the scheme to contain the Thunder. "It's a big game and it could possibly be for the conference title. Prairie Ridge is playing great football and we've got our work cut out for us."