Huntley 7-0 for 1st time since '01
Crystal Lake Central's defense was primarily designed to contain Huntley standout running back Jordan Neukirch.
The plan failed miserably.
Neukirch, despite being keyed on the entire game, bulldozed his way to 224 yards on 30 carries with 2 touchdowns on runs of 52 and 14 along with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Luczak as the Red Raiders moved to a perfect 7-0 and 3-0 in Fox Valley Conference Fox Division play with a 21-14 over Central Friday night in Huntley. The Red Raiders are 7-0 for the first time since 2001.
"The offensive line was dominant," said Neukirch. "They had good holes for me all night. Central knew we would run the ball and we still did successfully. The offensive linemen are the reason for my success. We have some tough games coming up, but we will be ready.
"This is a great win for the program, school and community. We had some thin years, but we are a winning program again."
Huntley coach Steve Graves praised Neukirch's effort.
"He is an extremely smart kid with a tremendous work effort," said the Huntley coach. "He knows all our blocking assignments and schemes. Our line does a great job of opening the holes and then Jordan does a great job of breaking tackles in the secondary."
Led by Neukirch's effort, the Red Raiders ran the ball 63 times for 352 yards and compiled 26 first downs. Brett Kleckner added 85 yards on 19 carries for the winners.
"Brett is a nice compliment to Jordan," said Graves. "He ran very well tonight and got some big yards in the fourth quarter. We certainly want to run the ball."
Crystal Lake Central (5-2, 1-2) grabbed a 14-13 lead on a 2-yard run by Adam Smith with 1:07 left in the third quarter.
Huntley came right back on its next drive to score.
The Red Raiders marched 73 yards on 12 runs, capped by an incredible 14-yard TD run by Neukirch. The senior running back looked to be stopped at the line, spun away from a tackler and broke 4 more tackles before ending in the end zone. A 2-point conversion pass from Luczak to Marcus Poppenfoose gave the Red Raiders a 21-14 lead with 8:07 left.