CL South has no problem with Prairie Ridge
In less than 3 minutes, Crystal Lake South wiped out any hopes Prairie Ridge had of upsetting the Gators.
With the score tied at 7, Crystal Lake South middle linebacker JD Barchard came up with the key play of the game late in the first half. Barchard, not only tipped Jon Williams' pass but intercepted it at the PR 12. Two plays later Kameron Scott reached pay dirt to give the Gators a 14-7 lead with 2:52 left in the half. After forcing the Wolves to punt, the Gators moved the ball to the Prairie Ridge 26 where junior kicker Bolek Mikulec boomed a kick easily through the uprights from 43 yards out with 1.7 ticks left before intermission.
The Gators held a 17-7 lead at the half.
South scored 21 unanswered points in the second half in rolling to a 38-7 win over PR in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game at Prairie Ridge Friday night.
"We were moving the ball most of the first half, but we made some key mistakes, said South coach Jim Stuglis. "The interception by JD was huge and then Bolek came up with a big kick. We had the momentum going into halftime."
The Gators (4-0) sustained that momentum during the second 24 minutes.
Using 8 different backs, South pounded the ball on the ground 32 times for 118 yards in the second half and scored 3 rushing touchdowns.
Scott, was has been bothered by a hamstring injury all season, scored on runs of 10 and 5 yards and quarterback Drew Ormseth scored from 3 yards. Scott ended the game with 53 yards on 13 carries and 3 scores.
"The hamstring is 100 percent and I am ready to go," said Scott. "I just want to run hard and follow my line. The O-line was outstanding."
Mikulec led the Gators, who had 263 yards on the ground in 53 attempts, with 90 yards on 12 carries.
Barchard ran 6 times for 55 yards and Ormseth carried 11 times for 48 yards and 2 scores.
The only bright spot for the Wolves (2-2) was a 46-yard TD pass from Williams to Justin Henderson with 8:12 left before half to tie the score at 7.
Ormseth completed 7-of-10 passes for 105 yards with Brandon Erickson catching 3 passes for 50 yards. Alec Giles caught 2 passes for 23 yards.