Alums agree: this Cary-Grove team has it all

There's football good and then there's 2009 Cary-Grove football good.

Football good means a winning record, a playoff berth and a successful season overall.

2009 Cary-Grove football good means utter domination. It means an unstoppable offense, a now-impenetrable defense and productive special-teams play.

And for the first time since 2004, and only the third time in school history, it means a state semifinal appearance.

The Trojans (12-0) cleared the quarterfinal hurdle with panache Saturday, decimating a talented De La Salle team 42-0 in Cary. Next week the No. 1 seed in the lower bracket will host District 155 rival Prairie Ridge (9-3) for the right to advance to Champaign.

This Cary-Grove team is drawing favorable comparisons to the 2004 Trojans, a group whose work ethic set the bar for future players to follow. That team reached the Class 7A title game at Memorial Stadium before falling 13-3 to Libertyville.

A key member of the '04 team, Northern Illinois junior outside linebacker Alex Kube, watched from the sideline as his alma mater overwhelmed the Meteors on both sides of the ball. He came away gushing.

"It's a machine," Kube said of an offense that has now scored 147 points in 3 playoff games. "You can tell that the kind of work these kids have been putting in the last couple of years is paying off. I haven't seen an offense that runs the option this well. They look like '04 and, I think, almost a little bit better. I don't want to jinx anything, but they're (darn) good."

The Cary-Grove offense topped 400 yards rushing for the second straight week as the misdirection mastery of quarterback Tyler Krebs, the speed of Alex Hembrey, the blocking of Steve Hapanovich and the powerful, balanced running of fullback Eric Chandler kept the Meteors guessing.

When Krebs scored on a 21-yard run in the first quarter, most of the De La Salle bench was heard yelling "middle" because they thought Krebs had handed the ball off to Chandler on a dive. Krebs kept it and ran outside the tight end, found daylight up the middle of the field and scored.

Another star from the '04 team, Andrew Lorman, now a redshirt sophomore playing hybrid tight end at Grand Valley State, echoed the sentiments of former teammate Kube.

"This is by far one of the most impressive teams I've seen here," Lorman said. "I think they have a really good shot at (the state title). We were talking about their O-line. Their line is like our '04 line with those big guys up there moving people off the ball really well."

"That feels good," said Cary-Grove senior center Hayden Baker, who accepted Lorman's praise on behalf of fellow linemen Rich Kersten, Matt Liebforth, Ben Luedtke, Sean Considine and tight end Cole Connington. "That's the best line that's ever gone through here. It's great to be compared to them."

The defense, fortified by starting spit end Chad McCarron getting a dual start at cornerback, shut out an opponent for the sixth time this season and for the first time since Week 6 at Huntley. "It feels great to end that drought," middle linebacker Nick Underwood said.

McCarron played all but one series on defense and running back Alex Hembrey saw duty on passing downs at the other corner. Unlike a week ago, when the Trojans allowed some big plays for touchdowns against Highland Park, they smothered the De La Salle offense and star receiver DJ Bland. The Meteors were held to 167 total yards, 44 in the first half.

"They were ready for everything we did," said Bland, who finished with 2 catches for 23 yards and one carry for -3 yards. "They really scouted us well and put the pressure on our offense. They confused our wide receivers with their coverage. I give their defense all the credit. Everything we did they had an answer to it. They put three or four guys on me. They are one (heck) of a team."

Said McCarron: "Today was a huge statement for the defense to get that shutout and maintain it for the whole game. I mean, they didn't know what to go to at the end. Everything was looking good on defense."

So to recap: The offense is unstoppable, an already good defense got better and the special teams were solid on coverage and returns and played smartly by kicking away from Bland on punts and kickoffs.

"It's hard to find a weakness on that team," De La Salle coach Dan O'Keefe said. "I think they'll be playing for a couple of more weeks."

O'Keefe isn't the only one thinking that way.

"We have a great feeling," Chandler said. "We obviously want to take it one game at a time, but our ultimate goal is to make it to the state championship game and win. It's there in the back of our heads for sure."

jfitzpatrick@dailyherald.com