Cary-Grove puts up big numbers again

At least in Woodstock North's inaugural home opener, the Thunder came in with style, literally.

Two Harley-Davidson motorcycles led the Thunder onto the field that had never held a varsity event before. With full steam ahead Woodstock North was ready for some home cooking. Yet, they had never sampled Cary-Grove (4-0), ranked third in the Class 6A AP Poll.

From the opening kickoff the Thunder (0-4) learned why the teams are polar opposites of each other.

Senior running back Alex Hembrey returned the kickoff 97 yards, and it wasn't the last time the Trojans scored as Cary-Grove gift-wrapped Woodstock North's first housewarming present, a 56-0 Fox Valley Conference crossover shutdown in Woodstock.

With great field position from 6 Woodstock North punts, the Trojans opened up a 20-0 first quarter lead on fullback Eric Chandler's 33-yard run and quarterback Tyler Krebs' (2-5, 30 yards) 1-yard run just before the end of the quarter. Cary kept digging deeper as Krebs went to the air and hooked up with Hembrey a minute later for a 12-yard catch, making it 27-0.

And Cary kept rolling on. It seemed the scoring would never end in the first half. Hembrey, who carried twice for 38 yards, scored his third touchdown on a 29-yard score with 8:23 left in the second quarter. Krebs then doubled his touchdown count on an 8-yard run. Chandler, who rushed 8 times for 103 yards, finished his night with a 3-yard touchdown run at half's end.

While the rushing stats may lie (311 yards) and Cary threw the ball just 8 times, the Trojans struck a perfect balance between pass and run.

"We feel more balanced this year," said Kay. "To beat good teams, you have to be able to run and pass. We feel our running attack has always been good, but our ability to run and catch has improved a great deal over last year."

Up 48-0 at the half, Cary tacked on 8 more points and plenty more achievements by its defense. For the third-time this season, Cary held a team scoreless, won the battle of total yards 359-73 and allowed only 4 first downs. In consecutive weeks they've beaten both Woodstock public schools by a score of 116-6.

"We want to try to go for perfection," Krebs said.

"They're pretty good," Thunder coach Jeff Schroeder said. "Their defense is even more impressive. I mean, holy cats, they're so fast."