Hampshire falls to unbeaten Prairie Ridge

Pawel Barnas grinned and admitted he is a bit of a crybaby.

That might not be easy for a 6-foot-1, 285-pound teenager to share with others. But the Hampshire senior offensive tackle was not afraid to share his emotions Friday night in Crystal Lake.

The tears that started flowing had nothing to do with a 61-6 Fox Valley Conference loss to unbeaten Prairie Ridge, which is ranked second in the state in Class 6A by The Associated Press. They had everything to do with Barnas wanting to make sure the 3-4 Whip-Purs win their final two regular-season games and return to the playoffs for the second straight year.

"Our work ethic was great and if we come out with that the next two weeks we have a good chance to get to the playoffs," Barnas said after the Whips had 224 of their 341 total yards in the first half. "I'm really so emotional because I love playoff football.

"I want to get there again. The whole offseason, everything I did was to get to the playoffs. I get emotional thinking about it."

Hampshire (3-4, 2-4) coach Mike Brasile spent most of his time in the postgame huddle with his team focusing on home games with McHenry (4-2) and Jacobs (4-3) the next two weeks and the opportunity for the program to make successive playoff trips for the first time since 2004-06. Junior receiver Erik Starrenburg then stepped in to re-emphasize what Brasile said.

And then Barnas stepped out of character and stepped in to speak his mind.

"I hope it does," Brasile said of having an impact. "Pawel has been a leader. He's one of the best players we have and one of the guys everyone looks up to."

Barnas said this was the first time he spoke up in a situation like Friday night.

"It's definitely up to me to be a vocal leader and keep them going," Barnas said. "I've always led by example but I want them to come with me so I'm going to have to be more vocal. I felt I had to do it."

Standout Prairie Ridge (7-0, 6-0) junior quarterback Samson Evans ran for a 54-yard touchdown on the game's second play.

Evans also had scoring runs of 20 and 80 yards en route to 179 yards rushing on 10 first-half carries and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Austen Ferbet. The Wolves had 305 of their 387 yards rushing and 459 total yards on the way to a 48-6 halftime lead and running clock the entire second half.

Hampshire did get within 20-6 when Jake Vincent (16-for-29, 235 yards) was flushed to his left, stopped and found Jared Hornbeck (7 catches, 142 yards) in the back of the end zone from 12 yards. Vincent and Hornbeck also connected on a 77-yard pass and combined with Cameron Fleury for a 46-yard hook-and-ladder play.

"We definitely had some success we can build on," Barnas said. "We did some good things against a really good team. That's something we can bring on to McHenry and Jacobs."

The key for the Whips will be finishing opportunities. Two trips inside the Prairie Ridge 20 ended with interceptions and another stalled at the 12.

"I thought we moved the ball and offensively we can do some things," Brasile said. "Defensively we have to fight and claw."

Especially if they are going to make the next two weeks as memorable as Brasile believes they can.