Huntley's win over Cary-Grove an all-around effort

Huntley benefitted from high-caliber performances all over the field last Friday night in a 29-8 victory over Cary-Grove, the program's first victory over the Trojans in 12 tries.

The defense was led by senior linebacker Tim McCloyn's 14 tackles (11 solo, sack), linebacker Daniel Dennis' 10 tackles (8 solo) and 10 tackles from junior lineman Caleb Jones, including 2 sacks.

Offensively, quarterback Anthony Binetti earned area player of the week honors after he completed 13 of 19 passes for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for a 15-yard score.

However, the player who perhaps had the biggest impact on the outcome was sophomore wide receiver Eric Mooney, the younger brother of 2013 Daily Herald All-Area honorary captain Bret Mooney of Jacobs, now a sophomore at Colgate.

Eric Mooney, who as an eighth-grader at Heineman Middle School in Algonquin won a state championship in the 100-meter dash, used his 4.5 speed to slip behind the Cary-Grove secondary twice, including a 43-yard touchdown that staked Huntley to an early lead it never relinquished.

Mooney finished with 3 receptions for 119 yards and a score, not bad for a natural quarterback who last season played running back as a freshman on the varsity.

"We certainly feel it was a breakdown on our part," Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg said of Mooney's ability to slip free, "but give him credit, too. He's a good player."

Mooney and junior Alec Coss lead the Red Raiders this season with 16 receptions apiece, and Mooney leads the team in receiving yards (406).

"He made some big receiving plays, but that didn't surprise us because that's what we expect of him knowing that he's a gifted athlete and, I think, a major Division-I kid," Huntley coach John Hart said. "To adapt to receiving skills is a lot more difficult than the normal fan would think: running patterns, sticking your foot in the ground, reading defenses and catching the ball on your fingertips, which is tough to do at about 22 miles per hour. He stretches a defense horizontally and vertically."

According to Hart, Mooney is the second-fastest Red Raider behind senior cornerback Tim Ryan, who ran a 4.38 at North Dakota's camp on the day he was made an offer.

Welcome, Redhawks: When Naperville Central visits Batavia Friday night, it's not going to be your ordinary nonconference game.

The Bulldogs can take a break from putting their Upstate Eight River winning streak on the line - which they extended to 29 games with a 48-28 victory at St. Charles North last Friday - and enjoy the opportunity to test their mettle against one of the DuPage Valley Conference's best.

Batavia did just that recently with a pair of wins over Glenbard North in 2013 and 2014. Now come the Redhawks, ranked No. 2 in the Daily Herald's Top 20 to Batavia's No. 5. The Bulldogs are ranked fifth in the AP's Class 7A poll; Naperville Central is No. 6 in 8A.

"Naperville Central, for us, is just a wonderful opportunity," Batavia coach Dennis Piron said. "It means nothing in our conference races. For both of us it is bragging rights. We want to play them at our place and have a great game, and when they leave they will feel good about how they were treated in terms of hospitality and also know what type of football team we have in Batavia."

Piron hasn't been afraid to schedule tough nonconference matchups. In addition to the series with Glenbard North, the Bulldogs have played Richards and added Oswego.

"We have been in big ballgames," Piron said. "Oswego is probably not going to lose again. South Elgin looks like they will win their division. We've got Naperville Central coming to Batavia. We're excited about that."

Element of surprise: One of the key plays in Batavia's win over the North Stars came from freshman kicker Jack Carlson, whose onside kick in the second quarter helped the Bulldogs score 21 points in a 2-minute, 20-second span to break the game open. Ben Paoletti recovered the ball.

"It's those little calls, little executions, that's what makes them a better team than us," North Stars coach Rob Pomazak said. "Give them all the credit. They are a great program. It's the difference between good teams and great teams. They come out and expect to win. They rely on the fact they are going to come up big in big situations."

Carlson also had an onside kick that was a key play in Batavia's season-opening 36-28 win over Oswego.

"That kid is really good at it. Isn't he awesome at it?" Piron said. "That's why you do it because you have a kid who can do it. He's a freshman, he has no fear."

Live from Elgin's west side: Ever-improving technology continues to change the way fans connect with high school sports, particularly via the Internet.

For example, savvy Larkin football fans are likely familiar with the Twitter account of the school's athletic director, Mark Ribbens (@LarkinAthletics). A Twitter touchstone for Royals fans throughout the 2014-15 school year, Ribbens posted updates and photos from whichever sporting event he supervised on a given day.

Larkin's athletic director has upped his Twitter game for 2015-16 by giving his social media followers a taste of live action via the Periscope app.

Throughout the first five weeks of the football season, Ribbens has stood on the sidelines shooting segments of live video with his phone, which can be viewed live by clicking on the links he posts to Twitter.

"Considering I'm a video guy and the way Twitter is expanding video, I thought what better way to tell the story of an athletic event than with a video from periscope," Ribbens said Saturday at halftime of Larkin's football game at South Elgin. "For me, it was a no-brainer.

"And the feedback I've gotten is a lot of people like to see the video and they think it's cool that you can do this live video broadcast, so I think it's great. I love seeing video on Twitter."

Ribbens is getting some other District U-46 athletic directors on board with the concept. He has given basic tutorials to Streamwood AD Mark Orszula and Bartlett AD Jeff Bral in hopes they'll join him in the Periscope realm.

Ribbens said content is king on social media, particularly live content.

"All the followers - the students especially - everything is on their phone anyway," he said. "And they have their phones on all the time so why not give them the video of the action. "I think any kind of new technology that allows people to see live video is great."

Back in black and orange: It was no coincidence that St. Charles East played one of its best defensive games of the season last week in a 44-12 victory over Streamwood. That's because middle linebacker Mitch Guillaume, the team's defensive leader, played a full game for the first time.

Hampered by an injury that forced him to miss the first three games of the season, the 6-foot, 207-pound senior got his feet wet against Batavia in Week 4 before he was turned loose in Week 5.

Guillaume responded with a team-high 6 tackles against the Sabres, twice as many as any other Saint, including a tackle for loss.

"His speed and aggressiveness and strength are things we needed," St. Charles East coach Bryce Farquhar said. "It's good to have him back."

Time to regroup: St. Charles North didn't get any favors from the Upstate Eight schedule makers, playing Geneva and Batavia in back-to-back weeks.

After giving up over 900 yards and 90 points in the two losses, the North Stars know where they need to improve. They will attempt to do that starting with Larkin Friday.

"We have some things we need to iron out," Pomazak said. "I still feel we are on course for what we want to do. We shift our focus to playoffs now. Obviously, the conference championship is not attainable. We look to get to six wins and hopefully seven wins and focus on next week.

"We have to be a better football team and make a stop. Plain and simple. Our defense is poor right now."

John Lemon contributed to this report.