CL South stops Jacobs
The Crystal Lake South defense has certainly had its share of outstanding efforts during the 2011 campaign. None was better than the Gators' performance against Jacobs' high-octane offense Friday night.
Holding Jacobs to a single touchdown, the Gators scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to post a 21-6 victory in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action at South's Ken Bruhn Field.
"We gave up a lot of passing yards, but we were real tough against the run," said South senior linebacker Steve Forner, a 3-year starter. "They have so many exceptional players on offense. Caz Zyks and Kyle Wright are very good running backs and Jason (Judson) is an excellent quarterback. This was a great win against a very good team."
The Gator defense set the tone on Jacobs' first play from scrimmage as defensive back Brendan Chrystal recovered a fumble at the Golden Eagle 35-yard line.
The Gators needed 5 plays to score the first touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run by Zevin Clark with 6:45 left in the first quarter. Brad Walovitch's kick gave the Gators (7-1, 5-1) an early 7-0 advantage.
The defenses took over and neither team was able to score for a little over 2 quarters. Jacobs finally got on the scoreboard with 1:17 left in the third quarter when Judson threw a strike to Jake Gierlak for a 36-yard touchdown. The Golden Eagles' extra point attempt failed and South held a slim 7-6 lead after 3 quarters.
The Gators wore down the Golden Eagles (6-2, 3-2) in the fourth quarter with 2 long touchdown drives covering 66 yards and 88 yards. Senior fullback Reese Dziedzic tallied both the Gators' scores on TD runs of 17 and 3 yards.
"Our offensive line was outstanding and we really ran the ball well in the fourth quarter," said South coach Chuck Ahsmann. "It was a big win against a very good team. Jacobs is a powerful team with big play capacity. Our defense played great."
In a losing cause, Judson completed 19-of-42 passes for 213 yards and a TD pass to Gierlak, who grabbed 5 passes for 98 yards.
"We didn't show up tonight," said Jacobs coach Bill Mitz. "They recovered that fumble early and gained momentum for the game. Give South's defense credit, but we didn't have a very good night on offense. "