Wrap-up: Huntley 28, CL Central 26
Huntley football coach Steve Graves gave his team a simple message -- stop 'em.
The task wasn't quite that simple.
Huntley needed to stop Crystal Lake Central's 2-point conversion attempt with 1:28 left in the fourth quarter in order to maintain its 28-26 lead.
The Red Raiders had to stop a Tigers' offense which had rushed for 226 yards and 20 first downs.
Huntley did get the stop as Central quarterback Connor Buxton bobbled the snap and was met by 4 Red Raider defenders in the backfield, allowing Huntley to hold on for the 28-26 Fox Valley Conference Fox Division and homecoming victory.
"We wanted to go out strong," said Huntley linebacker Jordan Neukirch, one of the four defenders to get a hit on Buxton. "Everything we worked for the whole game came down to this play. Our defense had to come up big."
On the prior play Huntley (3-5, 2-2) had allowed Anthony Niemo to rush for his third touchdown on the night. Niemo (16 rushes, 81 yards) ran in from 15 yards out to set up the potential tying score.
This time there was no way the defense was going to bend.
"They knew that was a big play," Graves said.
Huntley's offense did its part of supplying the big plays as well.
Neukirch put Huntley on top with his 7-yard touchdown run with 3:48 remaining in the game.
Quarterback Casey Popenfoose extended the lead when he scrambled in for the 2-point conversion, forcing Central (4-4, 1-3) to go for 2-points on its touchdown.
Huntley linebacker David Conrad retrieved Niemo's fumble to set up the scoring drive. The Tigers fumbled four times in the second half, with the Red Raiders getting the ball back twice.
Fullback Anthony Degani ran in a 1-yard touchdown with 10:52 left in the fourth quarter, and an extra point tied things up at 20.
Huntley rushed for 320 yards with junior running back Austin Drougas rushing for 94 yards in the second half. Drougas added a touchdown with 47 seconds left in the first half to pull Huntley within 13-12 going into the second half.
"The offensive line studied hard all week," Drougas said. "They did the job tonight. They came out and played hard."
Popenfoose hooked up with George Shaw for a 17-yard score with 2:16 left in the third quarter. Shaw then ran in the 2-point conversion, putting Huntley up 20-13 after an 8-play drive.
"We didn't have a formula to stop them," Graves said. "Our biggest way to stop them was to keep the offense on the field."
Niemo scored on runs of 3 and 11 yards, respectively, in the first half. Galen Ballew connected on an extra point after the first touchdown to put the Tigers up 13-12 at the half.
Huntley scored on its opening drive of the night, going 66 yards in 7 plays. Popenfoose ran in from 12-yards out, but a missed extra point gave the Red Raiders a 6-0 advantage.
Football
Waubonsie Valley 55, South Elgin 13:ŒThere will be no waiting to see if Waubonsie Valley's football team will make the playoffs this year.
The Warriors, one of 18 teams in 2006 that stayed home with 5-4 records, got the essential sixth win with a 55-13 victory Friday over South Elgin at Dick Kerner Stadium in Aurora.
"We've got six wins, first time since I've been here we've got the sixth win, so we're darn happy with that," said third-year Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy.
In this Upstate Eight game, Waubonsie Valley (6-2, 5-1) overcame 2 quick interceptions, by South Elgin's Garvin Thomas and Ian Sosna, allowed the Storm to take a 13-0 lead with 5:59 left in the first quarter.
Setting up shop first at the Waubonsie 4-yard line and again at the 20, South Elgin (2-6, 2-3) scored first on Sosna's 3-yard run and followed a series later with Josh Kabala's 12-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Pete Scaffidi.
From there Waubonsie went to the ground and took over behind its all-senior offensive line that averages 245 pounds.
"You saw the size difference," said South Elgin coach Dale Schabert, whose defensive ends Mike Schomer and Jake Slania each gave up nearly 100 pounds to Warrior tackles Josh Otten and 315-pound A.J. Lindeman.
"It wouldn't take too many football people to know you're going to take advantage of that size and then start pounding the football," Schabert said. "We intercepted two passes early on, I think they kind of made up their mind that wasn't going to be their route."
Warriors tailback Rich Tronolone started the comeback. On his way to an 8-carry, 165-yard night, he broke a pile in the middle to score on a 24-yard run.
Next time out Mark Mankivsky broke one 51 yards then on Waubonsie's next possession he scored on a 2-yarder. Kenny Harrington, his broken left hand in a cast, scored on a 4-yard run for a 27-13 halftime lead.
South Elgin right tackle Mike Keller was taken from the field by ambulance for precautionary measures after getting hit in the head, but and emergency medial technician said he had movement in his extremities.
Tailback Kabala suffered a reoccurrence of an ankle injury early in the second quarter and was replaced by slippery Clem Bowens, who gained 63 yards on 12 carries.
"I wasn't worried about the score, I was just worried about playing hard afterwards," Bowens said. "Because if you just play hard you don't have to worry about the score, you'll end up winning eventually."
-- David Oberhelman
Driscoll 21, Marian Central 7:ŒOften, highly anticipated games fail to live up to the hype. Driscoll versus Marian Central was perhaps one of those games that didn't quite live up to the advance billing.
Of course, the Highlanders aren't about to complain if the game wasn't an artistic success after they downed the Hurricanes 21-7 to stay unbeaten overall and in the Suburban Catholic Conference.
Quarterback David Schwabe rushed for 124 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 4:19 left. Trace Jenkins returned an interception for a touchdown for the clincher.
Marian had its chances. The Hurricanes reached the Driscoll 2-yard line late in the first half, but Nick Stenzel recovered T.J. Pappas' fumble with one second left in the half. In the third quarter, Marian marched to the Driscoll 5 but got only a missed field goal attempt to show for it.
"That's what Driscoll football is," said Schwabe of the goal line stands. "We watched film from 1999 of people jumping over the line stopping people. That's something that we've focused on since training camp, because Driscoll football is made on the goal-line stands."
Each team scored in the first quarter, but the second and third quarter bogged down in a flurry of penalties and turnovers. Marian turned the ball over 4 times and Driscoll was flagged for 84 yards in penalties.
The Highlanders finally broke through, going 58 yards in just 4 plays for the winning score. Tim Franken appeared to score on a 54-yard run. A holding penalty at the 19-yard line negated the touchdown, but Franken was still credited with 35 yards, setting up the Highlanders in good field position. Two plays later, Schwab burst through the middle on a planned keeper, shrugged off a tackle and racaed 22 yards up the middle for the score.
Driscoll is 8-0 overall, 6-0 in the SCC. Marian lost its second straight and is 6-2, 4-2.
-- Allen Oshinski
Boys soccer
Rockford Christian Life 4, Elgin Academy 2: In the Class A Hampshire sectional
Elgin Academy (1-16-1) fell to Rockford Christian Life in the opening round. Aaron Thomas and Alex Osinga scorfed for the Hilltoppers. Jackson Rudolph had an outstanding performance in goal as he collected 14 saves on the night fro EA.
Jacobs 2, Prairie Ridge 1: Jacobs downed Prairie Ridge in the opening round of the Jacobs regional. Dan Scheuer and Brian Obmalay scored for Jacobs (8-15). Prairie Ridge (11-10-1) got a goal from Dan Scheuer. Jacobs goalkeeper Danny Trevor collected 7 saves. A.J. Sturm was also able to grab 7 saves for the Wolves.