Jacobs clinches playoff berth

Jacobs is heading back to the playoffs.

Huntley will miss the postseason for the first time in three seasons.

The Golden Eagles clinched a playoff berth Friday night by defeating the Red Raiders, 28-12, for its sixth victory of the season.

“Everybody is hyped up about it,” Jacobs junior Caz Zyks said. “It's the greatest feeling in the world right now. We couldn't be happier where we're at.”

Jacobs (6-3, 3-2) last made the postseason in 2006, losing in the second round to Prospect. A loss to the Red Raiders (4-5, 2-3) would have made the Golden Eagles wait until today to see if they had enough playoff points to earn a postseason berth.

Thanks to touchdowns on their first three possessions all the drama was gone.

Zyks capped a 14-play, 59-yard drive after the opening kickoff with a 3-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead. After a Huntley punt, the Golden Eagles struck quickly, needing only four plays to go 59 yards. Kyle Wright's 19-yard touchdown run with 8 seconds left in the first quarter gave Jacobs a 14-0 lead.

Following another punt, the Golden Eagles drove 65 yards in just over 4 minutes for a 21-0 lead. Zyks scored his second touchdown, this one on a 26-yard run.

“We wanted to blow them away as fast as we could so we couldn't run into any problems in the second half,” said Zyks, who gained 70 yards on 15 carries.

Jacobs had 217 yards of offense, 136 on the ground, in the first half. The Red Raiders couldn't get anything going offensively and had only 36 yards in the first half.

“Bottom line here tonight is they're better than us,” said first-year Huntley coach Matt Gehrig. “They came out and blocked hard. They were able to establish their ground game and we weren't.”

Grant Rizza's 4-yard run gave the Golden Eagles a 28-0 lead on their first drive of the second half. Wright finished with 111 yards on 24 carries for Jacobs.

“It's a great feeling,” said first-year Jacobs coach Bill Mitz, who led Stevenson to 22 playoff appearances in 28 seasons. “The staff, all the coaches, the players, it's something that our community needs. To do this in our first year is great.”

Huntley, which needed a win and some help to reach the postseason for the third consecutive season, cut the deficit to 28-6 with 2:30 left in the third quarter as Tim Lycos hit Nick Kostalek for a 50-yard touchdown. Kostalek added a 9-yard touchdown run with 52.0 seconds left.

Huntley's James Davis had 94 yards on 20 attempts.