Cary-Grove 21, Jacobs 14

Cary-Grove had beaten Jacobs the last two seasons by a combined score of 75-0, so being in a tight ballgame with the Trojans to the end was akin to winning a small battle for Jacobs on homecoming night in Algonquin Friday.

But Cary-Grove won the war with a 21-14 victory in the Valley Division opener for both Fox Valley Conference teams, a game both coaches called "a great high school football game."

The Trojans (4-1, 1-0) overcame a 7-0 deficit with a pair of 45-yard touchdown passes from quarterback A.J. Hoger to Dan McCall in the second quarter and took a 21-0 lead early in the second half on a long drive

But Jacobs scored late in the fourth quarter on a Darius Bowers 9-yard run and the game wasn't sealed until the Trojans' Kyle Gray fell on an onside kick with 2:03 to play and picked up first-down yardage 3 plays later to run out the clock.

McCall was the hero for the Trojans. The 6-foot-1 senior receiver made 5 catches for 118 yards and got behind the Jacobs twice for big plays.

"We knew what kind of coverage they were playing all night," McCall said. "Their free safeties played up real tight, so we knew coming into the game we'd be able to take advantage of the deep pass over the middle and that's what we did. It was all about execution. We just executed great on offense."

Leading 14-7 at halftime, the Trojans opened the second half by using 7 running plays to march 73 yards in 3:47.

Senior running back Kyle Gray took a Hoger pitch to the left side, got a great downfield block from Jacob Gerhardt and ran 40 yards untouched to the end zone to put Cary-Grove ahead 21-17 with 8:10 to play in the third quarter.

"We did a fine job of executing and we had the angles we needed," Cary-Grove coach Bruce Kay said. "The kids just did a fine job. They performed. They answered the call right off the bat in the that third quarter."

The Jacobs offense couldn't gain traction in the second half, however. The Trojan defense forced 3 punts in a row, then forced a turnover on downs at the Jacobs 33 with 6:33 left in the game.

"Our line does a fine job, but their defense fills every gap, so it's kind of hard," said Jacobs running back Darius Bowers. The leading rusher in the area coming into the game, Bowers was limited to 45 yards rushing on 16 attempts.

Jacobs finally gained a chunk of yards with some trickery: Nate Mohlman's 53-yard reverse pass to quarterback Kyle Magnuson. Bowers cashed in 6 plays later with a 9-yard scoring run, but Cary-Grove recovered the onside kick with 2:03 to play, gained the necessary first down and ran out the clock.

Jacobs took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 3-yard pass from Magnuson to Alex Anderson on fourth-and-goal.

"I'm just really proud of our whole team and how we gave a championship effort," Jacobs coach Dean Schlueter said. "I couldn't be prouder of our team. (The Trojans) are a good team. We came up a little bit short and we have to give them credit. I thought it was a good football game. We'll learn from it and come back next week ready to go."