Huntley gains first win

Ethan Connor didn’t expect to be Huntley’s workhorse Friday night. But when Jordan Hyatt went down with a knee injury on the game’s second play, the Red Raider tailback took on a bigger workload.

He made the most of the opportunity, running for 139 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Red Raiders downed Dundee-Crown, 33-14, in Fox Valley Valley action in Carpentersville.

After a brutal early schedule, Huntley (1-4) finally got in the win column while spoiling the Chargers’ homecoming and sending D-C to its 22nd straight loss.

Connor scored 3 times in the first half — on runs of 18, 5, and 4 yards — as the Raiders took a 20-0 lead into the locker room.

“I had no idea,” Connor said. “But it’s fine with me. The adrenaline got going. I’m going to feel it in the morning.”

The first win came as a relief to the entire Huntley program.

“It’s been a tough start to the season, to get to the halfway point of the season and not have a win yet,” said Huntley coach Matt Gehrig. “The guys have been in the weight room all summer and spring, and then we’ve got summer camp and two weeks of doubles basically before the season starts. So that’s several weeks they’ve been grinding away and not gotten to feel the taste of victory.”

The Chargers, with 12 sophomores on the varsity roster, had trouble matching up with the more physical Red Raiders.

“The teams that are more physical we’re going to have trouble with because we’re young,” said Charger coach Vito Andriola. “We’re physically young, and that’s the key. We’re not young mentally. They’re not sophomores anymore, not to me. They’ve all played a half a season as sophomores.”

Cody Lane and Ardian Asani scored second-half TDs to keep the Chargers in the game. Asani finished with 82 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Connor led the way for Huntley, which racked up 237 yards on the ground. Quarterback Jake Brock didn’t drop back often, but was very efficient when he did. He completed all 3 of his passes for 85 yards and a touchdown to Bryce Beschorner.