Hojnacki, Huntley win high-scoring game against Cary-Grove

Final score: Huntley 42, Cary-Grove 35

Records: Huntley 5-0, 5-0 in Fox Valley Conference play, Cary-Grove 3-2, 3-2 in the FVC.

Player of the game: Huntley quarterback Malik Carter. The junior completed 10 of 19 passes for 172 yards, including two TD strikes to Matthew Schroeder. Carter also scored a rushing touchdown.

Other statistical leaders: Huntley’s Chase Hojnacki rushed for 115 yards and crossed the goal line twice. Cary-Grove quarterback Jackson Berndt gained 152 yards on 12 carries and scored four of the Trojans TDs, three on the ground and one on a pass. Teammate Luke Cerasa carried the ball 13 times for 53 yards and scored Cary-Grove’s first touchdown.

Turning point: Trailing by a score with 1:47 left to play and facing fourth and five on its own 41-yard line, Cary-Grove’s conversion attempted failed.

First-half highlights: Both teams scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the first half resulting in a 21-21 tie at halftime. Cary-Grove’s Ryan Koltz blocked Huntley’s 30-yard field-goal attempt with 11.7 seconds left before halftime to keep the scored knotted.

Second-half highlights: The two squads continue to trade scores in the third quarter. Leo Zavala’s fumble recovery set up Berndt’s third score in the closing seconds of the third quarter to put the Trojans up 35-28. Huntley responded with two fourth-quarter scores while keeping the Trojans out of the end zone to win the game.

X-factor: Cary-Grove scored 35 points on Huntley, which had allowed only one touchdown in its previous four games.

Quote: “It seems that every time we play Cary-Grove it goes down to the wire,” Huntley coach Mike Naymola said. “This was the game that we knew that adversity was going to hit. We had a pretty clean slate up until now. We wanted to make sure our kids responded and they did.”