Crystal Lake Central snaps Cary-Grove's streak
Cary-Grove veteran coach Bruce Kay wasn't about to use any excuses after his Trojans were defeated 27-6 by Crystal Lake Central in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game in Crystal Lake Friday night.
"Inexperience is not an excuse," said Kay. "Every possession in the first half we made a mistake or a mental mistake which killed us. We showed no discipline at all. Central ran it right down our throats. We have a lot of work to do."
Cary-Grove, the defending Class 6A champions with only 3 returning starters, was thoroughly beaten up front by the powerful Tigers.
Led by Gage Harrah's 182 yards on 29 carries and 4 touchdowns, the Tigers amassed 371 yards on the ground in 60 carries with 24 first downs.
"My offensive line was outstanding,"said Harrah. "They opened gaping hole after gaping hole. I had so much room to run. Cary-Grove lost a lot of great players from last year, but they are still the defending state champs. We have been looking forward to this game since we lost to De La Salle last year in the playoffs."
Scoring on 3 of its first 4 possessions, Central seized control of the game early.
Harrah scored on runs of 6, 2 and 1 yards as the Tigers led 20-0 at halftime.
Cary-Grove, which didn't have a first down during the first half of the game, showed some signs of life offensively in the second half.
Aided by a 33-yard pass from Corey Laktas to Joe Ryan, the Trojans (0-1) got on the scoreboard with 2:34 left in the third quarter on a 3-yard run by Ryan Mahoney.
Harrah ended his huge night for the Tigers (1-0) with a 49 yard TD scamper with 9:34 left in the game.
Cary-Grove managed only 106 yards rushing and 48 yards passing for 154 yards of total offense. The Trojans compiled only 6 first downs for the game, all in the second half.
Nick Jimenez led Cary-Grove with 58 yards on 11 carries. Laktas, playing his first varsity game, completed 2-of-3 passes for 48 yards.
"Our defense was outstanding," said Central coach Matt Fralick. "Cary-Grove's option is tough to stop and our defensive staff came up with a good plan. Our offensive line played a great game. They opened up some huge holes and our backs ran really hard. It was a good first game effort by our team."