Johnsburg comes back to thwart Jacobs
Things couldn't have started any better for Jacobs' football team Friday night in Algonquin.
The Golden Eagles recovered a bloop kickoff at the Johnsburg 29-yard line.
Then they needed just one play _ a 29-yard sweep around the left side by Zach Bates (85 yards) _ and led 7-0 just 11 seconds into the game.
Things were still looking good when the Golden Eagles built a 28-14 lead with 5:12 left in the second quarter.
But the next 28 minutes too a different turn.
Johnsburg (2-0) scored the final 28 points of the game _ including 21 in the second half _ to post a 42-28 triumph.
It was tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz leading the visitors in the first half with TD catches of 60 and 32 yards from quarterback George Bielis.
Then Johnsburg senior running back Justin Peete took over, scoring the next 4 touchdowns on runs of 3, 21, 23 and 6 yards.
"You've got to hand it to them," said Jacobs coach Dean Schlueter. "They made the plays when they had to.
"I loved our kids' effort. They put themselves in a position to win but didn't make the plays. He (Fiedorowicz) made the some great plays and we also made some to stop him."
Fiedorowicz caught 5 passes for 163 yards, but four came in the first half for 139 yards.
"I didn't have to do anything in the second half," the Illinois recruit said. "My whole team stepped up. Justin ran like a man and the offensive line really got the job done."
Peete, who raced for 108 yards on 20 carries, gave all the credit to men up front _ Casey Elliott, Mitch Noncek, Frank Walsh, Austin Vanderstappe, and Nick Plett.
Peete was held to 26 yards in the first half.
"We challenged our guys at half," said Johnsburg coach Barry Creviston. "I told them our first two games up to that point might have been as bad of football as I've seen. I just challenged them to come out and play."
"We just had to take away their momentum," Peete said. "We had to play with intensity and we didn't give up. Our line stepped from last week. They worked hard against the defense in practice all week. I give them all the credit."
Jacobs senior Dale Cook, who ran for 74 yards, scampered 38 yards for a TD and classmate Ben Albano (64 yards) added a 6-yard TD for a 21-7 lead with 41 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Golden Eagles (1-1) jumped ahead 28-14 on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by sophomore Jason Judson with 5:12 left in the first half, capping a 74-yard drive.
But Peete's 3-yard run with only 57 seconds left in the half started his personal TD parade.
Adam Bogdan and Alec Starr had interceptions for the Golden Eagles.
Midway through the first quarter, the lights went out on the southwest pole.
To make things fair in the second half, whenever the ball crossed the 50-yard line heading toward the dark end of the field, the teams switched sides of the field.