Cary-Grove drives past Hubbard in Class 6A playoff opener
It was a football game, not a golf match, yet Cary-Grove still managed to win the longest drive contest.
The defending Class 6A state champion Trojans staked themselves to an 8-point halftime lead, extended it by capitalizing on a blocked punt early in the third quarter, then mounted a pair of monumental drives that chewed up clock and kept Hubbard's frustrated playmakers off the field in a 28-20 victory.
"This feels great, but there's a long way to go from here," Cary-Grove junior linebacker Sam Babick said. "We just have to keep at it."
No. 11 Cary-Grove won a first-round playoff game for the seventh straight season. The Trojans advance to play No. 3 Robeson (10-0) next week in Cary.
Cary-Grove led 14-6 early in the third quarter when Babick blocked a Hubbard punt deep in Greyhounds territory. Danny Sarillo picked up the loose ball and returned it to the Hubbard 3-yard line, and fullback Patrick O'Malley scored on the next play to put the Trojans ahead 21-6 with 9:19 left in the third quarter.
"In the playoffs you've got to make plays and we did that today," Cary-Grove coach Bruce Kay said. "The blocked punt was great."
"I was untouched and I just dove at the ball," Babick said.
Hubbard demonstrated its big-play capability on its ensuing possession. After attempting just 1 pass in the entire first half, the trailing Greyhounds took to the air behind quarterback Quincy Skanes. He completed all 5 pass attempts on the drive for 75 yards, and senior tailback Johnathan McClellan capped the drive with a 2-yard dive over the top of the pile to bring Hubbard within 21-12 with 6:14 left in the third quarter.
Then Cary-Grove's offense played keep away.
Using five different ball carriers, the Trojans' triple-option offense methodically carved through the Greyhounds over the course of 14 plays and 75 yards. Junior quarterback Corey Laktas kept the drive alive with a sneak on fourth down at his own 46-yard line. He later scored from 2 yards out on the final play of the third quarter to put the Trojans ahead 28-12.
"We pounded the ball away," said Laktas, who rushed 16 times for 77 yards and 3 touchdowns. "The defense was moving around so I checked out of some plays and the o-line did a very good job picking up their blocks. Keeping our offense on the field and their offense off was a huge plus in the game. They were very athletic, but we were disciplined."
Cary-Grove's Zach Marszal then recovered a short kickoff at the Hubbard 34, but Laktas was intercepted by Skanes 2 plays later.
Hubbard marched 8 plays the other way, culminating in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Skanes to Delano Braxton. Skanes' 2-point conversion pass, also to Braxton, drew the Greyhounds within 28-20 with 8:30 remaining.
The Cary-Grove offense went back to work, pecking away at the Greyhounds throughout a mammoth 16-play drive that covered 51 yards. All 16 plays were rushes and the Trojans converted a pair of fourth downs along the way. Though they fumbled the ball away with 36 seconds left at the Hubbard 26-yard line, the Trojans had taken 7:53 off the clock.
"That right there is ball control," Hubbard coach Glenn Johnson said. "They weren't trying to pass, they were just running and running and we couldn't get the ball back. When we'd get it back we would score, but we couldn't get the ball back."
With only 36 seconds left to traverse 74 yards, the desperate Greyhounds were unable to pick up a first down, thanks to a sack of Skanes by Sam Mago and Max Kersten. Skanes' fourth-down pass fell incomplete and Laktas took a knee to end the game.
The Trojans held the ball for nearly 15 of 24 minutes in the second half.
"That's what we wanted to do, just keep the ball," Kay said. "If we could have just held it there for another 36 seconds it would have been perfect, but it happens. The kids played great."
Cary-Grove's no-huddle offense jumped to a 7-0 lead after Laktas finished off an 80-yard, 9-play drive with a 14-yard keeper, and Nick Taylor booted the extra point.
McClellan raced for a 61-yard touchdown on Hubbard's second possession, but the kick failed, leaving Cary-Grove with a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter.
The Trojans scored with 5:33 left on a 1-yard run from Laktas to take a 14-6 lead. The drive was set up when Babick's big hit on McClellan forced a fumble that was recovered by Sean Keady at the Hubbard 27-yard line.
"I was just playing back side watching for a cut back, and he cut back," Babick said. "I put my helmet right on the ball and the thing came right out."