Cary-Grove rolls over Crystal Lake Central
When a opponent makes a mistake against Cary-Grove it usually proves to be fatal.
That was the certainly case for the mistake-plagued Crystal Lake Central Tigers Friday night.
Scoring 2 early touchdowns off Tiger fumbles, the opportunistic Trojans were able to cruise to a 40-0 win over Central in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game at Cary's Al Bohrer Field.
"Our defense was outstanding all night," said Cary-Grove coach Bruce Kay. "They got the offense the ball in great scoring position early in the game and we were able to take advantage of a short field."
Taking advantage of fumble recoveries from Danny Scott and Matt Corcoran, Cary-Grove was able to start consecutive drives on the Central 22 and 18-yard lines.
Utilizing a no-huddle offense with the plays attached to his wristband for the first time, The Trojans scored on a 13-yard run by Eric Chandler and 5 seconds later after Scott's recovery Alex Hembrey rambled 18 yards for a score.
Both times the extra points failed and the Trojans led 12-0 with 8:15 left in the initial quarter.
It was the Tyler Krebs show for the rest of the night. The senior signal caller scored on runs of 1 and 12 yards and ended the night with 109 yards on 20 carries.
"We wanted to speed up the game and keep teams off guard and we worked on the no-huddle this summer," said Krebs. "For a first game I thought it worked well. The defense was really concentrating on Eric and I was able to get a lot of room to run."
Compiling 304 yards on the ground, the Trojans also got a 44-yard TD by Hembrey, who ended with 93 yards on 9 carries.
The Cary-Grove defense, which held the Tigers to 74 yards rushing and 3 first downs, got a score when linebacker Nick Underwood scooped up a fumble and rambled 48 yards for a touchdown. Cary-Grove defensive back Danny Sarillo jarred the ball loose from Central fullback Adam Smythe enabling Underwood to recover the ball and score for the Trojans' final score of the night with 1:09 left in the fourth quarter.
"All the credit goes to Danny Sarillo," said Underwood. "He made a great hit and I was in the right place. It was my first varsity touchdown and it feels great. Our defense played great tonight. Everybody hustled to the ball and it is a great way to start the season."
Central coach Jon McLaughlin looked at the game philosophically.
"Playing a great football team like Cary-Grove in the first game exposes your weaknesses," he said. "We certainly found out what was broke and need to fix it."