Crystal Lake South rolls
Coming off its first loss of the season last week to Prairie Ridge, Crystal Lake South wanted to leave little doubt on Friday night at the Dundee-Crown Bowl.
Karl Mikulek and his teammates wasted little time in getting back on track as Crystal Lake South (6-1, 4-1) cruised to a 42-0 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win over Dundee Crown (0-7, 0-5).
Mikulec (3 carries, 84 yards) ran for 40 yards on the first play from scrimmage and followed that up with a 26-yard scamper to put the Gators up 7-0 just 22 seconds into the game. On the Gators’ next series, the senior scored from 18 yards.
“We just came out to play,” Mikulec said. “We knew we had to treat them like Prairie Ridge. We treated them like they were the best and that’s why we came out and won. That’s the only way you’re going to win.”
Zach Gettes (6 carries, 56 yards) added a 10-yard touchdown at the end of the first quarter to increase the advantage to 21-0, seemingly putting the game out of reach.
Crystal Lake South consistently picked up big gains on the ground, piling up 264 rushing yards. A Zevin Clark (7 carries, 76 yards) 9-yard run with 8:42 left in the second quarter put the Gators up 28-0.
“We did a great job trap blocking,” said Crystal Lake South head coach Chuck Ahsmann. “We did a great job, especially early, opening it up for the fullback. I don’t think he was touched a couple times. The offensive line is mostly young and inexperienced guys so we’re really happy with the way they’ve come along.”
Dundee-Crown played without starting quarterback Garrett Ryan and tailback Cody Lane. After running back TJ Moss went down on his first carry, Ardian Asani was left to carry the backfield load.
The Chargers had some success through the air as quarterback Ben Sprouse hooked up with Trent Muscat, Nick Lodi and Max Schell for big gains.
“Our program has to be better,” said Dundee-Crown head coach Vito Andriola. “We are getting hurt because we aren’t strong. It’s the same thing over and over again. It’s not going to get fixed in the next two weeks but it will get fixed in the next 9 months.”
Despite facing a team that hasn’t had much success the last few years, the Gators were determined to come out and squash any thoughts of an upset.
“It doesn’t matter how many games they have won,” Mikulec said. “We came out and played a good football game and that’s what we’re going to do against Jacobs (next week).”