Wrapup: Prairie Ridge, Larkin win
Distractions have plagued Prairie Ridge's football team in the past when dealing with its homecoming game, but this year the Wolves had a distraction-free week and it proved to pay dividends out on the football field.
Prairie Ridge crushed its visiting opponent Grayslake North 48-7 in a Fox Valley Fox Division game Friday night. Sam Campbell helped propel the Wolves to victory by rushing for 247 yards and scoring 3 touchdowns.
"The past couple of years we have had some distractions and it has shown up in our game play," Campbell said. "This year we said none of that and our defense came out fired up and that got us pumped up on offense and we went out there and did the job."
ˆ Prairie Ridge ran 11 straight rushing plays to open up its first two drives. The first drive ended on a 3-yard touchdown run by Kevin Keener. A 43-yard run by Campbell helped set up that score. Campbell ended the second drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.
Things continued to get worse for the Knights as it fumbled on the ensuing kickoff. Patrick MacMeekin recovered it for the Wolves (6-0, 2-0) and two plays later Bryan Bradshaw would score Prairie Ridges' third touchdown of the game on a 2-yard quarterback sneak.
With the score 34-0 and just a little less than a minute left in the half, the Wolves successfully ran its two-minute offense. Bradshaw went 5-for-5 on the drive and passed for 81-yards. A 14-yard pass to Campbell capped the scoring drive.
"That is something we work a lot on," Wolves' coach Chris Schremp said about the team's final touchdown of the half. "To be in a game situation its one of those things down the road and in the playoffs we are going to need. So it was nice to get out and practice that during a game like this."
Grayslake North (0-6, 0-2) came out in the second half and marched down the field and scored its lone touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run by quarterback Nick Harrington. Although the drive took up most of the third quarter, Knights' coach was pleased to see his team execute offensively.
"I knew we could move the ball and the good news is that it was still somewhat against their number ones," Wood said. "We didn't make any mistakes and if you don't make mistakes it gives you a chance to be successful. This was a moral victory if nothing else."
Larkin 40, Streamwood 7: Larkin linebacker Brandon Cooks had heard it all about his team's defense this season.
After the Royals pitched a near shutout in their 40-7 victory to spoil Streamwood's homecoming Friday night at Millennium Field, Cooks and the defense stood tall.
On four straight series in the first half, Larkin (3-3, 3-1 Upstate Eight) sacked Streamwood (1-5, 1-3) quarterback Gabe Roman on third down. Cook sacked Roman twice and Jake Kane picked a pass to end another drive.
"We had a lot to prove," Cooks said. "A lot of people are talking, saying our defense is nothing. We came out strong. We worked hard to stop them on third down."
Larkin also stopped Roman 1 yard short of a touchdown as time expired in the first half. Roman scrambled for 19 yards one play after having his 20-yard touchdown run called back for holding. Jeff Saurbaugh and Nick Bee each swatted passes away from Sabers' receiver Kyle Holder in the end zone to prevent the score.
"Defense has been an emphasis since week one," Larkin coach Dave Bierman said. "With personnel and schemes, the kids are understanding more of what they have to do. We're getting more pressure on the ball."
Streamwood prevented the shutout when Daniel Poierier (11 rushes, 41 yards) dashed in from 11 yards out with 6:15 left in the game. The score came after Larkin scored 40 points and ignited the running clock.
Larkin's defense had held Streamwood to 3-and-out 7 times in the Sabers' prior 10 possessions.
"They were playing some aggressive football," Streamwood coach Cal Cummins said. "They were flying to the football. They gave us a different look than we expected."
For as hard as the defense worked, Larkin's offense made things look easy.
In the Royals' first 8 offensives plays, quarterback Cam Kinley went 5-of-6 for 152 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Kinley (11-of-17, 266 yards) found the end zone 5 times in the game, with a pair of scoring passes to Bee (3 receptions, 113 yards) and Kyle Shriver (5 receptions, 128 yards) in the first half.
Kinley hooked up with Bee for a 55-yard touchdown with 6:50 left in the first quarter. He then found Shriver from 47 yards out 3 minutes, 9 seconds later to make it 21-0. He went back to Shriver with 11:49 left in the second quarter, this time for 25 yards, but a missed extra point made it a 27-0 lead.
Bee caught the final touchdown of the first half on a 33-yard bomb. The final score came on the opening drive of the second half when Kinley connected with Kane on a 25-yard score.
But Kinley was as quick to spread the praise as he was to spread the ball around.
"We're not one dimensional," Kinley said. "We can do more than play offense. We can stop them on defense too."
Running back Dillon Smith (7 rushes, 42 yards) kicked off the scoring, running in for an 11-yard touchdown on the Royals' opening series.
-- Matt Stacionis
St. Charles North 34, South Elgin 7: Tim Ohlrich revived the St. Charles North football fortunes on the opening kickoff, and South Elgin never
had a chance against its redemptive-minded foe.
The North Stars' senior wide receiver returned the game-opener 45 yards, and Nic Higgins and Nick Neari did the rest for St. Charles North.
"We were one second away from going all the way," said Ohlrich.
Ohlrich was stopped at the Storm 30 yard-line, and Neari had the first of 2 keepers for scores six plays later to inaugurate the North Stars' 34-7 victory in St. Charles Friday night.
The North Stars' Nic-and-Nick Show was too much for South Elgin too overcome.
Higgins, the North Stars' seniorˆ wingback, touched the ball only 15 times on the night in the Upstate Eight Conference contest, but South Elgin never found a remedy for his quickness and agility.
The senior had 104 of his game-high 128 yards rushing
by halftime, scoring on a sweep from 21 yards out to double the North Stars' first-quarter advantage.
Higgins later added a 13-yard burst to set up the second Neari scoring run early in the third quarter, and the two later collaborated from 42 yards out on a scoring reception to give St. Charles North a commanding 27-0 lead at the intermission.
"I think we played all four quarters," said Higgins, who finished with 196 all-purpose yards. "We didn't take any quarters off."
The North Stars' swarming defense limited South Elgin (2-4, 2-1) to 25 yards of first-quarter offense, and Tim Janeway was one of many notable members to step up for St. Charles North (3-3, 2-1).
The senior blocked a punt in the first quarter and ended the most promising drive South Elgin could muster through the opening three quarters with a fumble recovery.
The Storm did not have an answer either for Jake Juriga, the North Stars' junior middle linebacker, who wreaked havoc all evening.
"We put together more of a complete game," said Juriga. "We came out with a lot of energy."
"Our backs are still against the wall," added St. Charles North coach Mark Gould. "We can't come out and think we're going to roll over people. I was a little bit surprised (by the margin of victory)."
For South Elgin, the Storm dropped its first conference game.
The North Stars harassed quarterback Pete Scaffidi all evening, but the senior connected with Ian Sosna for a 9-yard, fourth-down completion to avoid the shutout.
The lone scoring drive for the Storm came following Higgins' final score of the night with an 18-yard cutback run.
"We thought we had a pretty good shot (to win)," said South Elgin defensive coordinator Jason Schaal. "We thought we would play more competitive."
-- Kevin McGavin
Bartlett 38, Elgin 35: After an impressive comeback by Elgin and with overtime more than a sure bet, Bartlett kicker Andrew Reuter ended the game, allowing the Hawks to squeak by Elgin 38-35 in an Upstate Eight Conference game Friday night at Memorial Field.
With only 4.8 seconds left on the clock Reuter kicked a 40-yarder, clearing the bar by inches as the Hawks' bench erupted in joy.
"I had all the adrenaline going," Reuter said. "Once I kicked it, I knew it was good."
With momentum on the Maroons' side after coming back from a 21-point deficit to tie the game at 35 all on a 23-yard reception to James Duncan from Tom Roth with 36 ticks still on the clock, Hawks offensive coordinator Mark Williams made a gutsy call.
Quarterback Josh Hasenberg threw a 22-yard pass to Cory Brown in the middle of the field at the 30-yard line.
"I didn't want to do it but coach Williams talked me into it," said Bartlett coach Tom Meaney. "It's a good call."
With 7.5 seconds remaining, the Bartlett offense rushed to the ball to make the spike.
"I read the coverage and Cory was wide open," Hasenberg said. "We all knew we had to get up to the ball quickly."
The game looked to be a blowout early in the second half after the Hawks (4-2, 2-1) scored three unanswered touchdowns for the 35-14 lead, including 2-yard and 14-yard runs by Vinnie Libreri and a 39 yard pass to Brown.
But the Maroons (2-4, 0-3) clawed their way back scoring three unanswered touchdowns of their own as Roth threw a 75-yard pass to Jamal Cook and a 9-yard pass to Duncan.
"You got to give them all the credit in the world. They never gave up," Meaney said of the Elgin offense. "They kept us off-balance running and passing the ball well."
For the Maroons' side, assistant coach Mike Sitter felt there was nothing for his guys to be ashamed of.
"Obviously, our kids had tremendous faith and effort. Even when we were down 35-14 in the fourth, the kids kept on saying it wasn't over," Sitter said. "They're such a great group of kids. There's no reason for them to put their heads down."ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ
-- Seth Hancock
Women's Volleyball