Larkin can't battle back in loss to McHenry
Trailing 42-7 Larkin could have easily given up on Friday’s season opener at McHenry, but the Royals bounced back to score 22 points before losing in a 66-29 nonconference shootout.
The 66 points is the most Larkin has given up in a game since the IHSA began keeping records on its Web site.
Sparked by a pair of 37-yard rushes from wide receiver Mark D’Angelo, McHenry went up 42-7 in the first two minutes of the third quarter.
D’Angelo first broke free for a 37-yard touchdown, then picked up a Stephen Chislette’s fumble and took it 37 yards for the touchdown, though the play wasn’t a total waste.
Chislette fumbled on the first of Larkin quarterback Cam Kinley’s eight straight completions.
Kinley threw for 2 touchdowns, one to Nick Bee and another to Jake Kane to pull Larkin back in contention. Kinley hit Bee to cut McHenry’s lead to 42-13, then spotted Kane on a 59-yard pass to make it 45-21 with 4:45 to play in the third quarter. The play came after McHenry kicker Mike O’Brien nailed a 36-yard field goal.
Neither team was done, however.
McHenry scored three more times and Ryan Shriver ran back a 92-yard kickoff return for the Royals before the game was over.
“I had a little more time in the second half,” Kinley said. “I wasn’t throwing on my back foot every time.”
Although McHenry took a 28-7 lead at halftime, things could have been a lot worse.
McHenry turned the ball over on its first 2 possessions of the game, both time at the Larkin 3-yard line.
Jon Banks intercepted McHenry quarterback Tyler Marunde at the 3-yard line on the first possession and Kane scooped up a fumble on the Warriors’ second possession, keeping the game temporarily scoreless.
Things didn’t go as well for Larkin on the next 2 McHenry possessions as Marunde found Nick Brennan on a 20-yard pass and D’Angelo on a 25-yard scoring strike to give McHenry a 14-0 lead with 9:24 to play in the second quarter.
McHenry running back Mark Iglesia, who finished with 103 yards, scored from 8 yards out less than a minute later after the Warriors recovered an onside kick. The play capped off a 2-play, 44-yard drive.
Kinley connected with Bee on a 33-yard pass to put Larkin on the board with 7:38 remaining in the first half.
“You can’t make mistakes,” Larkin coach Dave Bierman said. “They were coming off the ball under our guys. They were getting pad under pad like fundamental football should be. We have to get better up front.”
McHenry would score once more in the first half as running back John Doessel, who ran for 79 yards, scored on a 1-yard run with 2:42 left in the first half to make it 28-7.
McHenry finished 430 yards on the ground, including 168 yards on 17 carries in the third quarter.
Kinley finished the second half 9-of-11 for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns. For the game he had 3 scoring passes and 18 completions for 257 yards, but Larkin only rushed for 48 total yards.
“We have to be able to run the ball,” Bierman said. “You have to be able to do two things. One is going to be better, but you have to do both adequately.”