Jacobs 54, McHenry 35
The three-peat is almost complete for Jacobs.
“Two down, one to go, Jacobs coach Bill Mitz said after his Golden Eagles' 54-35 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win over McHenry Friday night at McCracken Field.
And that one game is going to decide plenty, and not just for Jacobs (5-3, 2-2), which has now qualified but not been guaranteed a playoff berth.
With Huntley's 40-7 win over Dundee-Crown, it sets up a game between the two rivals next Friday at Jacobs with not just bragging rights on the line, but the chances of postseason play. Mitz has been hinting since Jacobs' loss to Crystal Lake South two weeks ago his team needed all three to guarantee itself a playoff spot. Six guarantees, five qualifies. That's Huntley's problem. They need to win to qualify for a chance. A lot is at stake.
“I don't think they like us too much, we don't like them too much, so it's going to be a battle, running back Kyle Wright said. “Everything is going to be on the line.
“It'll be a great atmosphere and they're going to have to win to get in so it'll be a very good football game, Mitz said.
For Jacobs to be in its position, they had to shake off the pesky Warriors (1-7, 1-3) who provide a pass-heavy offensive attack, but defensively, give up 34.3 points per game in the FVC Valley.
Jacobs took advantage of a favorable defense, and scored on its opening four positions. Caz Zyks ran for 3 touchdowns in the first quarter with runs of 56, 1 and 8 yards. Wright punched the fourth one in from 15 yards out, and Jacobs was quickly up 28-0 early in the second quarter.
Zyks finished his night with 247 yards rushing on 26 carries and 5 touchdowns. His buddy Wright finished with 136 yards rushing on 24 carries with a TD run and catch from 34 yards out from Jason Judson (6-for-11, 130 yards, 1 touchdown) in the third quarter. Both combined for 383 of Jacobs' 386 yards rushing and 486 total yards. And even though McHenry's passing game flourished with 250 passing yards behind their quarterback Robert Tonyan, Jacobs' offensive line John McMahon, Maciej Kozlowski, Ryan Perez, Jake Cha and Paul Ehrlich plowed the road for Wright and Zyks to keep the Warriors away.
“They're big boys. Kind of have a lot of faith in them, Wright said.
“It's just a brotherhood, all of us brothers worked hard today and the running backs ran, we blocked, we had some fun, said Perez, who helped Jacobs amass 26 first downs.
Even when McHenry scored on three-straight possessions in the second half to climb within two scores, the line kept blocking for Zyks and Wright.
Zyks capped a 6-play 50-yard drive with 5:11 in the fourth on a 12-yard run to make it 54-35 in the fourth quarter. Jacobs outgained McHenry 486-385, and held McHenry's run to 135.
“We feed off each other, (Wright) gets a bad play, I get a bad play, so we say ‘hey, we'll come back and get it,' and Grant Rizza, throwing his body out there, giving us huge holes, Zyks said.
Tonyan was 23-for-44 for 250 yards, while receiver Jake Braskett caught 6 for 102 yards for McHenry.