Neighborhood rivalry on tap today in Cary
Ties run deep between Class 6A semifinalists Prairie Ridge and Cary-Grove.
Located in Crystal Lake, Prairie Ridge High School draws a sizable percentage of its student population from neighboring Cary, which means several old friends will face one another when the 10th-seeded Wolves (9-3) meet the top-seeded Trojans (12-0) on Al Bohrer Field in Cary today at 1 p.m.
"The neat thing is that so many of the families know each other," Prairie Ridge coach Chris Schremp said. "A lot of our kids and their kids played on some of the junior teams together in football, basketball, baseball. Everyone kind of knows each other, so it'll be pretty exciting."
Senior defensive lineman Greg Drain and sophomore outside linebacker Corey Peterson are among several Cary residents playing for Prairie Ridge. Perhaps that's why so many Cary-Grove fans cheered last week during the Trojans' 42-0 victory over De La Salle when it was announced Prairie Ridge had come from behind to beat Belvidere North.
Prairie Ridge, playing in a state semifinal for the first time, has the unenviable task of trying to beat a Cary-Grove team that has steamrollered playoff opponents St. Viator, Highland Park and De La Salle by a combined 147-49 margin. The Wolves reached the semifinals by beating King, Marmion and Belvidere North by a combined score of 79-39.
The Prairie Ridge triple option offense has rushed for 3,341 yards and thrown for 714. Senior fullback Tim Deering is the rushing leader with 1,104 yards (5.3 avg.) and 10 touchdowns and speedy running back Justin Henderson has 12 touchdowns and 594 yards (7.9 avg.). Quarterback Jon Williams has 786 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing and has thrown for 699 yards and 3 more scores.
"Prairie Ridge does on offense what they are capable of doing," Trojans coach Bruce Kay said. "They run the ball a lot. The feeling is that this is going to be a fast game. The last three opponents we've had have tried to throw the ball, so there has been a lot of clock left when we get the ball. If they were to grind out some first downs, we could see half a quarter go away. So it's imperative that our defense gets them to go three-and-out.
"They have breakaway speed with Henderson, a very good fullback, and a quarterback that executes their offense. I think they play within what they can do and they have playmakers in their offense. That's a concern."
Prairie Ridge is likewise concerned with Cary-Grove's offense. The Trojans have rushed for 3,815 of their 4,531 total yards.
"We know how to stop the triple option. I just hope we can go out there and execute it," Schremp said. They've got really good, disciplined kids and Bruce is such a good coach. They get their team ready every week so we have our work cut out for us. Our best bet is to keep the game close, as close as we can, get to the fourth quarter and have a shot. We know we're not going to stop their running game, but we have to make them earn everything they get. We can't give up any big runs. Our defense has to make them earn it.
"We've been telling our kids all week we've got nothing to lose. If we win the game it'll be the greatest upset around here. If we lose the game, well, you know what? Nobody expected us to be here in the first place."
In addition to running the same triple option offense, both teams use the same 3-3-5 defensive scheme to great effect.
"I think it will come down to is who has the better players," Kay said. "We both are so similar in what we do, it'll be about who blocks, who can get off blocks and makes tackles and who doesn't."
The winner will advance to the Class 6A state title game in Champaign next Saturday at 1 p.m. against the winner of today's 3 p.m. semifinal between Providence (11-1) and host Danville (12-0).