Johnsburg 24, Huntley 21

It seemed like a game of cat-and-mouse in Johnsburg Friday night.

Huntley needed to respond quickly after Thomas Kinney's 26 yard field goal late in the third put Johnsburg ahead 17-7 in a Fox Valley Conference Fox Division matchup.

Huntley (2-4, 0-2), knowing that its season could go up in flames with the loss, needed a fourth-quarter comeback to possibly flip the script.

Down 17-7 in the fourth quarter, Huntley's Austin Drougas cut Johnsburg's lead to three after his 4-yard dash with 8 eight minutes remaining.

Just when Johnsburg thought its homecoming game was in hand Gered Grundy threw a costly interception on Huntley's 28-yard line. Five plays later, Jordan Neukrich broke a couple of tackles for a 54-yard score, giving Huntley a 17-14 lead. The game of cat-and-mouse was on.

At this point, with 3:26 left in the fourth quarter, Huntley's defense needed one stop to put Red Raiders in better positioning for the playoffs, but they fell victim to the Johnsburg's top receiver, C. J. Fiedorowicz.

After his 20-yard kick return that set up Johnsburg (3-3, 2-0) at its own 42, Grant Potts caught a 30-yard pass setting up an 11-yard touchdown grab from Fiedorowicz, his second touchdown of the game, giving Johnsburg the lead again.

His first touchdown came in the first quarter on a 47-yard pass on Johnsburg's third play of the game.

Huntley would have one more chance to stick it to Johnsburg's defense, which was looking for a big play all game. After an incompletion, coach Steve Graves went back to the pass and Casey Popenfoose was intercepted by Mike Freveletti, which turned out to be the game-winning play with 1:15 remaining.

"We felt we had control but knew they could come back," said Grundy. "We still had to be strong and play football."

Fiedorowicz, who caught 8 passes for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns, felt confident for his team's future.

"We practice like we're in the playoffs. Right now, we're in the second round," he said.

Poppenfoose, who rushed for 147 yards, threw the game-ending interception which to his coach Winter, was a big problem for them throughout the game.