Hampshire notches big win over Crystal Lake Central
It's one win down and one to go in Hampshire's quest to make the playoffs after knocking off visiting Crystal Lake Central 28-9 on Friday night in Fox Valley Conference Fox Division action.
The Whip Purs (5-3, 3-2) entered the final two weeks needing a pair of wins to make the playoffs and now just need a win next week at Woodstock.
Whip Purs quarterback Jacob Vincent passed for 178 yards and 3 touchdowns.
"It's been our goal since day one to make it into the postseason tournament," Hampshire coach Mike Brasile said. "We know exactly what we have to do, so it has been like a playoff atmosphere all week. We tried to liven it up and do some fun things in practice this week to keep them loose. I thought they responded very well and rose to the occasion tonight."
After CLC had tied the game at 7-7 late in the second quarter, the Whip-Purs began to take control of the game just before the half. Jared Lund returned the ensuing kickoff 59 yards to the Tigers' 37 yard line. Just four plays later Lund tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jared Hornbeck to put Hampshire on top 14-7 with 1:56 left in the first half.
"Special teams are an important part of what we do and they always do a great job," Brasile said. "Sometimes you need a play like a big return to get jump started and get everything else going. That definitely gave us a big lift."
Vincent, the leading passer in the area, completed 18 of 34 passes on the night. His favorite target was Jake Manning, who had 12 receptions for 117 yards, including 2 second half touchdowns.
The Whips extended their lead to 21-7 when they took advantage of great field position and marched 48 yards on their opening drive of the second half. Vincent connected with Manning for a 22-yard touchdown pass on a fourth down play.
Vincent and Manning hooked up again for a 25-yard touchdown pass later in the third quarter to make it 28-7.
The Whip-Purs also ran for 139 yards. Lund led the ground attack with 80 yards on 17 carries.
"We had a real good week of practice," Vincent said. "We came in with a real good mindset. A little jitters at the beginning, but we got it going. It's nice to have a good balance with the passing game and the running game. I thought the line did a great job of creating holes and giving us time."
The Hampshire defense held the Tigers to just 190 total yards. Michael Kruse had a pair of interceptions. His first one he returned 18 yards for the Whip-Purs' first touchdown.
Central (3-5, 2-3) tied the score at 7-7 with 3:21 left in the second quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Vinson May that capped a short 41-yard drive. May had a team high 90 yards on 24 carries. However, the Tigers struggled to get any thing going after that except for a late fourth quarter drive that was stopped at the Hampshire 1-yard line.
"At times I thought we were able to run the ball pretty well," CLC coach Jon McLaughlin said. "But every time we got something going we did something that would set us back."