Cary-Grove chews up Huntley
All it took was a look between Cary-Grove quarterback Jason Gregoire and wide receiver Larkin Hanselmann to flip the momentum in a 42-14 win over visiting Huntley in a battle of unbeatens Friday.
Huntley had momentum on its side midway through the third quarter. Red-zone back Jake Witt had just scored from 2 yards out on the Red Raiders' first possession of the half to pull his team within 12-7 of the top-ranked squad in Class 7A.
Huntley's fans and sideline were whipped into a higher frenzy on the next play from scrimmage when defensive lineman Tim McCloyn tackled Trojans fullback Tyler Pennington for a 1-yard loss.
However, Hanselmann and Gregoire saw single coverage on the next play and thought they could exploit it. Hanselmann made a subtle gesture to Gregorie and he audibled out of a screen pass to a fade pattern down the right sideline, which the speedy 5-foot-7, 150-pound receiver caught in stride for a 70-yard touchdown.
The play switch happened so fast and subtly that Gregoire said he wasn't exactly sure what pattern Hanselmann was going to run until he ran it.
“I was actually expecting him not to run the fade,” Gregoire said. “I was expecting him to run the screen so I kind of made a mid-throw adjustment and he caught it. He made a great play.”
“I think it got us back on the right path,” Hanselmann said. “We never looked back from there.”
If that big play didn't deflate Huntley, Hanselmann's next one did. On Cary-Grove's ensuing possession, the senior lined up to punt on fourth-and-3 from his own 39-yard line, but he instead took off down the sideline for a 59-yard fake to the Huntley 2.
Pennington, who rushed for 105 yards on 19 carries, scored his third touchdown of the game on the next play, and Gregoire's 2-point conversion pass to Matt Sutherland gave the Trojans a 28-7 lead with 1:04 left in the third quarter.
Huntley (4-1, 0-1) answered with an 11-yard pass from Anthony Binetti to Josh Esikiel, but George Hartke restored the Trojans' 3-touchdown cushion when he ran a reverse for a touchdown, his path cleared by a block from Notre Dame-bound lineman Trevor Ruhland. Gregoire's extra point kick made it 35-14.
“Our kids just responded and we happened to make some big plays,” Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg said. “I think that was really the difference in the game, the explosive plays and the turnovers that we got.”
Cary-Grove won the turnover battle 2-1. Sutherland came up with one of those turnovers when the safety intercepted a first-quarter pass from Anthony Binetti that was tipped by teammate Willie Hartke.
A senior, Sutherland played a key role in the defensive game plan installed by his dad, defensive coordinator Don Sutherland. The Trojans often dropped Matt Sutherland deep into coverage in the middle, which allowed the safeties to play further outside against Huntley receivers Brandon Altergott and Josh Esikiel.
The scheme, coupled with the physical line play of senior Michael Gomez (sack, tackle for loss) and Ruhland (sack), among others, limited the Huntley offense to 230 total yards, 178 through the air. The Red Raiders entered the game averaging 382 total yards and 50 points per game.
“We had lots of opportunities to match them with everything we did, but we weren't disciplined enough and I put that on me and the staff,” Huntley coach John Hart said. “That's what option football is and we didn't do it well enough. We'll get better. I'm disappointed in me. I'm not disappointed in them (the players). Obviously, we didn't do some things that we should have done. That falls on us. I thought the effort was there. (Cary-Grove) executed. When they got into single coverage, they were better at throwing the ball than we were at defending it”
Gregoire had a big game. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound signal caller completed 5 of 10 pass attempts for 135 yards and a touchdown with 1 interception at the end of the first half. He also rushed for 109 yards on 9 carries, including a 47-yard jaunt. That big play set up Sutherland's 6-yard touchdown, which capped the scoring with 1:42 left in the game.
“We made plays,” Gregoire said. “We made explosive plays when we needed them. That was a big key to the game.”
The Trojans capitalized on Sutherland's first-quarter interception when Pennington scored on a 2-yard run to finish a 7-play, 41-yard march.
He scored again with 1:37 left in the second quarter, breaking free fro a 20-yard run up the middle to complete an 88-yard, 11-play drive.