C-G still King of Valley, stand tall in FVC showdown
The Cary-Grove football team stayed low in order to stand tall.
Outsized on both sides of the line against Crystal Lake South, the Trojans relied on technique, quickness and heart to prevail 28-16 in a showdown between state-ranked unbeatens in the Fox Valley Conference's Valley Division in Cary Friday.
"They were big and they were strong, but we played low on offense, moved our feet and executed our game plan to perfection," Cary-Grove center Hayden Baker said. "We just wanted to pound it and run the ball as best as we could. It was a trenches game and we won it. This feels great, as good as it gets."
The win was the 37th straight conference victory for the Trojans, who rushed for 258 of their 300 total yards. Cary-Grove (8-0, 4-0) can clinch its sixth straight undefeated title in the FVC with a win next week at Dundee-Crown (1-7).
Senior speedster Alex Hembrey rushed for 127 yards and 3 touchdowns, and senior fullback Eric Chandler's 16-yard scoring run with just over two minutes left put the game out of reach.
"The line did a great job and I only had to break a tackle or two to get into the end zone," said Chandler, who high-stepped the final 3 yards after avoiding a tackler. "I've never been that excited in a game. The crowd for both teams made it great tonight."
The Cary-Grove defense shut down the CL South running game, holding the Gators to 49 yards on the ground. Forced to air it out, the Gators completed 12-of-27 passes for 188 yards but were stung by 3 interceptions.
"They were getting too much penetration," said Gators senior Kameron Scott, who carried 17 times for 29 yards. "On both sides of the ball tonight we did not come out hard enough like we were supposed to. We came out too flat. We thought we'd have a better chance than we did, but we didn't give ourselves much of a chance."
Cary-Grove jumped to a 14-0 lead on scoring runs by Hembrey of 9 yards in the first quarter and 28 yards with 2:32 remaining in the first half.
The Gators got a huge shot in the arm before the end of the half when quarterback Drew Ormseth connected on a 27-yard scoring pass to Alex Macaulay with .7 seconds left to halve the deficit.
The Gators pulled within 14-10 on a 29-yard field goal by Bolek Mikulec with 4:38 left in the third quarter, but the Trojans responded with a 6-play, 65-yard scoring drive, keyed by Steve Hapanovich's 43-yard run. Hembrey capped the drive by sprinting untouched to the end zone after a pitch from quarterback Tyler Krebs.
CL South (7-1, 3-1) answered 2 possessions later with a 13-play, 62-yard drive highlighted by an 18-yard scramble by quarterback Drew Ormseth. He finished off the march with a 2-yard strike to sticky-handed receiver Alec Giles (9 receptions, 102 yards) with 5:10 left in the game that pulled the Gators within 21-16. Ormseth was sacked on the 2-point conversion attempt by Cary's Rich Kersten.
After the CL South defense forced a 3-and-out, the Gators had a chance to take the lead, starting at their own 10-yard line with 3:30 to play. However, senior Josh Nelson ripped the ball out of a receivers' hands on fourth-and-10. The Trojans took over on downs with 2:37 left in the game, setting up Chandler's scoring run that sealed the win and sent the packed Cary-Grove stands into delirium.
"We've built so much tradition here the last five years, and it's great to show the people who have passed through here that we could hold up the tradition they made so special," Baker said.