CL South bounces back, shuts out McHenry
Nothing worse than battling an angry Gator. Especially, a disturbed Crystal Lake South Gator.
After a tough gut-wrenching setback to rival Cary-Grove last week, South bounced back with vengeance and pummeled McHenry 36-0 in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division matchup at McHenry's McCracken Field Friday night. The game was played in wet, windy and muddy conditions.
"Last week was a tough loss," said South coach Jim Stuglis. "But Cary-Grove is a very good football team and they can make you look bad at times. We had a good week of practice and came out very focused tonight. "
The Gators (8-1, 4-1) pounded the overmatched Warriors (4-5, 3-2) into submission during the first 8 minutes of play. Utilizing a successful onside kick, Crystal Lake South scored on its first 3 possessions of the game.
The Gators needed only 1 minute and 23 seconds to strike first with Drew Ormseth scoring from a yard out. Ormseth had a 23-yard run and Kameron Scott rambled 16 yards as the Gators needed 8 plays to go 62 yards and take a 7-0 lead. Scott gave South a 2-touchdown lead with a 37-yard touchdown run with 9:39 left in the quarter.
The third touchdown came via the airwaves as Ormseth connected with a wide open John Walsh for a 20-yard score. Walsh made a diving catch to give the Gators a 20-0 lead. Ormseth, who also holds on extra points, fumbled the snap on the PAT but was able to cross the goal for the 2-point conversion to give South a 22-0 advantage with 3:45 left in the first quarter. That was the score at halftime.
The Gator defense basically stymied McHenry's concise short passing game. Warrior quarterback Thomas Rose completed only 14-of-27 passes for 57 yards.
"Our defense, which was a little tentative against Cary-Grove, was very aggressive tonight," said Stuglis. "McHenry has a good passing game and we did a good job of jamming their receivers. We didn't give them many long passes. The completions ended up being like a long handoff."
The Gators' offense amassed 297 yards on the ground on 45 carries with 17 rushing first downs. With 11 players toting the pigskin, Scott led the Gators with 79 yards on 9 carries and a score. Ormseth scrambled for 53 yards on 9 carries and a TD.
"We wanted to bounce back from last week," said Ormseth. "We came out very focused and we came out strong and scored early. We lost a little focus in the second quarter, but came out focused in the second half."