Fenton loses tough decision

It was a decision that Fenton coach Mark Farrell doesn't regret.

Here's the scenario:

With the Bison trailing Crystal Lake Central 19-14 with 5:44 remaining, Fenton faced a fourth-and-5 from its own 25-yard line.

Instead of punting the ball, Farrell opted to go for the first down, but the Bison couldn't complete the pass play.

"The way (Crystal Lake Central) was controlling the ball I didn't think we would get the ball back," Farrell said. "We had to go for it on fourth down. The play was there, we just didn't execute."

The Tigers took over on downs and scored an insurance touchdown on a 6-yard run by Gage Harrah with 2:20 left.

No. 4-seeded Crystal Lake Central held on to a 25-14 win over 13th-seeded and upset-minded Fenton in a first-round Class 6A playoff game at Central's Metcalf Field.

Crystal Lake Central (8-2) advances to play DeLaSalle next weekend.

"The kids came ready to play and played hard," Farrell said. "All the teams in the playoffs are good teams and you have to execute, and we didn't execute in crucial situations."

Fenton (6-4) meant business on the first drive of the game. Mixing 10 runs with a pass, the Bison moved 73 yards on 11 plays capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Eric Justiniano with 5:37 left in the first quarter. The drive ate up 6 minutes and 23 seconds and produced a 7-0 Bison lead after the extra point kick Ben Weishaupt.

The Bison's downfall was it defense's inability to stop Crystal Lake Central's vaunted running Attack. The Tigers plodded for 274 yards on 45 carries led by 160 yards on 12 carries by Harrah, which included touchdown runs of 43, 34 and 6. Adam Smyth added 88 yards on 17 carries with a 43-yard touchdown run.

"We ran the ball especially when we had to," said Crystal Lake Central coachJon McLaughlin. "We kind let them hang around but the defense came up big late in the game."

After Fenton scored the first touchdown of the game, the Tigers responded with 19 unanswered points before Tyrell McGee scored on a 17-yard run with 2:18 left in the third quarter. Weishaupt's extra-point kick pulled the Bison within 5.

"I thought we were in good shape at that time," Farrell said, "but we didn't make the big plays and execute when we had to."

McGee ended the game with 68 yards on 15 carries and a score.