Cary-Grove savors Class 6A championship

CHAMPAIGN - The Cary-Grove football team took care of unfinished business at Memorial Stadium in Champaign Saturday.

Making their first appearance in a state final since losing to Libertyville 13-3 in 2004, the Trojans overcame a 17-14 third-quarter deficit with 3 rushing touchdowns by senior running back Alex Hembrey and 3 interceptions by the defense to defeat Providence Catholic 34-17 for the Class 6A state title.

The win gave Cary-Grove (14-0) its first state football championship and denied Providence (12-2) its 10th. Cary-Grove became just the second school from the Fox Valley Conference to win a state football title. Woodstock has two - in 1983 and 1997.

"We just finished what the '04 team started," Cary-Grove all-state center Hayden Baker said as he watched the team captains accept the first-place trophy. "This is their championship, too."

After Providence took a 17-14 lead on its first drive of the third quarter - a 73-yard march capped by Joey Houlihan's 7-yard pass to wide receiver Mike Stanton - the Trojans took the lead back, thanks to a bold decision.

Trailing by 3 points and facing fourth-and-1 at his own 36-yard line, Cary-Grove coach Bruce Kay called timeout to talk things over, which allowed his players to do some lobbying.

"We really wanted to go for it because there was no way we wanted to give them the ball back," Hembrey said. "We needed some momentum to get us going. We told coach 'We're gonna get it done. Let's go for it.' "

Kay agreed. "I just figured what the heck, let's make a play," he said. "I thought we could do it and I figured you've got to have some guts once in a while.

Hembrey took a toss to the left side, cut inside blocks by split end Chad McCarron and tight end Cole Connington and raced up the sideline, cutting back once inside the 30, for a 64-yard touchdown with 2:37 left in the third quarter. The point after kick was blocked, leaving the Trojans with a 20-17 lead.

Providence tried to answer, driving 48 yards in 9 plays to the Cary-Grove 19-yard line. However, Houlihan floated a pass over the middle to a receiver streaking to the end zone and McCarron, who also started at cornerback, intercepted the ball at the goal line and returned it to the his own 26.

"We were in the game up until that point," Providence coach Mark Coglianese said. "The ball kind of hung up and they made a nice play on it. Our defense kept getting put back on the field, and when you give a great offense such as Cary-Grove that many opportunities - it started to wear on us."

McCarron, who was inserted as a starter at cornerback beginning in the quarterfinal round, said the Trojans were playing a cover-2 defense and were expecting Houlihan to throw on third-and-9.

"We knew we had to at least hold them so they only got a field goal," McCarron said. "I saw the ball with hang time and I just made a break on the ball, went and got it and just went from there."

On Providence's subsequent possession, Cary-Grove cornerback Trent Sorensen intercepted Houlihan's next pass at midfield. Four plays later Hembrey converted the turnover into 6 points with a 45-yard run through a huge hole on the right side of the line of scrimmage. Nick Taylor's extra point extended the lead to 27-17 with 10:44 remaining in the game.

A third interception thrown by Houlihan, this one returned to the Providence 32-yard line by linebacker Kyle Liebforth, set up Hembrey's third touchdown of 7 yards. Taylor's extra point gave the Trojans 20 unanswered second-half points and Cary-Grove began to celebrate the inevitable.

"It's an indescribable feeling," said Cary-Grove quarterback Tyler Krebs, who rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown. "We went through a lot of adversity today, but we stuck with it and it paid off."

Hembrey finished with 189 yards rushing on 18 carries as the Trojans outgained the Celtics 414 total yards to 240.

"I could have gone 15 carries and no yards and I wouldn't care as long as we won the championship," Hembrey said. "We got it done and that's awesome. It was good to have a good day, but everyone else had a good day, too."

Providence took the early lead with a 38-yard field goal by Alec Pickett, but the Trojans answered with a 12-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard plunge by Krebs for a 7-3 lead.

Providence regained the upper hand on a 2-yard run by senior Tim Hanrahan - who was held to 73 yards rushing on 25 carries - but the Trojans bounced back with Eric Chandler's 1-yard run to take a 14-10 lead at the half."