Crystal Lake South stays hot, beats Burlington Central

Amassing 392 yards of offense with 25 first downs, Crystal Lake South, which started the 2021 season 0-2, won its third straight game outscoring Burlington Central 44-26 in Fox Valley Conference action in Burlington Friday night.

It was the Rockets' homecoming, and they fell to 2-3.

Gators senior standout quarterback Justin Kowalik completed 18-of-29 for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Cooper LePage, who snared 4 passes for 55 yards, grabbed an 11-yard touchdown from Kowalik to give the Gators a 7-0 lead. Michael Prokos caught 6 passes for 92 yards and a 25-yard TD pass while Brady Schrader caught 4 passes for 44 yards and a 9-yard TD from Kowalik.

"We felt we should have won the first game of the year against Jacobs and then we lost to a very good Cary-Grove team," said Kowalik. "We just tried to keep things together after a slow start. I also have great receivers which helps."

Gators coach Rob Fontana praised his team's passing game.

"Justin is a very good quarterback and we have great receivers," said Fontana. "We lost 2 tough games to start the season but we stayed together as a team."

Junior Nathan Van Witzenburg spearheaded the Gators running with 183 yards on 16 carries and TD runs of 87, 5 and 1 yard.

The opportunistic South defense forced 5 turnovers, 3 fumbles and 2 interceptions.

Burlington Central quarterback Shawn Adkerson led the Rocket offense with 106 yards on 16 carries and scored on runs of 4, 1 and 29 yards.