Dundee-Crown topples Crystal Lake Central
Dundee-Crown as usual, relied on its dynamic duo of Ricky Ibarra and Greg Williams to generate most of the offense Friday night in a Fox Valley Conference game against Crystal Lake Central in Carpentersville.
But it took a huge defensive stop in the fourth quarter to preserve the Chargers' 35-28 win.
D-C (2-6, 1-6) started the fourth quarter with a comfortable 35-14 lead over the Tigers thanks in large part to Ibarra and Williams' combined 3 touchdowns and 235 rushing yards.
Crystal Lake (2-6, 1-6) rallied in the fourth quarter to score 2 touchdowns on its first 2 possessions to close the gap to 35-28, both on TD strikes from Tiger quarterback Jake Staples (15 for 28 for 257 yards.) The first was a 17-yarder to Christian Crociata and the second, a 15-yard strike to Vinson May.
On Crystal Lake's third possession of the period, the Tigers threatened again driving from their own 35-yard and made it to the D-C 26-yard line with 2 minutes to play. That is when Charger Cody Barcklay intercepted a Staples to pass to end the drive.
"I was playing cover 3 and coach just tells me to follow the receiver wherever he goes and he went over the middle and I was able to make a play on it," said Barcklay. "I jumped the ball and took it down."
"We made it closer than it had to be, but we have been kind of doing that all year. We have been in a lot games - there's 3 or 4 wins we could have had, but plays went the wrong way," said D-C coach Mike Steinhaus."Tonight, we made the plays."
Another defensive stop set up the Chargers' second score of the night in the first quarter. Already leading 7-0 thanks to a Williams 18-yard run, Isaiah Zeigler recovered a Tiger fumble at their 15-yard line. On D-C's first play after the recovery, quarterback Conor Ryan connected with Sean Jay who was all along in the end zone. Ryan finished the night completing 12 of 19 passes for 103 yards.
Both teams scored in the second quarter giving the Chargers a 21-7 halftime lead. Ruben Rojas caught another Ryan pass in the end zone. Crystal Lake responded with a May 1-yard plunge.
Williams and Ibarra scored rushing TDs in the third quarter. Williams crossed the goal line on a 4-yard run. The senior finished the night gaining 172 yards on 28 carries. Ibarra (14 for 63 yards) scored on a 1-yard run.
In between the D-C scores, Crociate scored on a 40-yard pass from Staples.