St. Charles East 14, Waubonsie Valley 13
Score one for perseverance.
After not scoring for the first 40 minutes of Friday night's Upstate Eight Conference football opener at Waubonsie Valley, the St. Charles East offense finally found the end zone.
Sam Gunther's 6-yard touchdown strike to Jacob Krzeczowski on a quick slant over the middle with 7:40 remaining moved the Saints into a tie. David Winn's extra-point put them up 14-13, and that held as the final score at Dick Kerner Stadium in Aurora.
The TD capped a 14-play, 72-yard drive for St. Charles East (2-1, 1-0), which had struggled to do much of anything on offense before that.
"We're trying to feel our way with that young offensive line," Saints coach Ted Monken said. "We are very happy that we learned how to execute toward the end."
"I got rid of the ball quicker," said Gunther, who completed 7-of-7 passes for 54 yards during the decisive drive. "I knew I couldn't sit back there and wait. I had to get rid of the ball quick. Our best run game is our short pass game, really."
Immediately prior to the game-winning drive, Eian O'Brien gave St. Charles East an emotional lift when he blocked a 29-yard field attempt by Waubonsie Valley (1-2, 0-1) late in the third quarter.
"That was huge," Gunther said.
So was Jack Leopardo's 45- interception return for a touchdown that enabled St. Charles East to take a 7-0 lead. It was one of 2 interceptions the Saints made in the first quarter.
But then Waubonsie Valley turned to its ground game with good results. Kenny Harrington, who rushed for 103 yards on 23 carries, ran for an 8-yard touchdown as the Warriors tied the game early in the second quarter.
Mitch Ewald's 25-yard field goal at the gun of the first half gave Waubonsie Valley a 10-7 halftime edge.
An Ewald 22-yarder midway into the third quarter made it 13-7.
But then a number of things went wrong for Waubonsie Valley. The home team prolonged a St. Charles East drive by roughing the punter, had a subsequent field goal blocked and then kept the Saints' TD drive alive with a pass interference call that gave the visitors a first-and-goal at the 9.
"We were in position all night to get control of (the game), we never did," Warriors coach Paul Murphy said. "We just kept making dumb plays."
Genoa-Kingston 37, Hampshire 8: When your first three offensive snaps result in a holding penalty, a fumble and an interception it's going to be a long night.
And Friday night must of felt like an eternity for the Hampshire football team.
Genoa-Kingston scored 9 points off those 2 turnovers and the rout was on as the Cogs dominated the Whip-Purs, 37-8, in Genoa.
"It was tough for us," Hampshire junior Evan Brenner said. "We can't do that. We know that we have to hang onto the ball."
Hampshire (2-1) received the opening kickoff and had first down on its 36-yard line. A holding penalty set up a first-and-15. James Goebbert ran around left end, was hit hard and fumbled. The Cogs' Kevin Billington recovered the fumble on the Whip-Purs' 40. That set up a 25-yard field goal by Brad Hayes.
On Hampshire's next offensive play, Ethan Menges intercepted a Trace Teboda pass and the Cogs again started in Hampshire's territory. Five plays later Billington scored on a 3-yard run with 6:56 remaining in the first quarter.
"Those were big," Cogs coach Bill McCarty said. "Last year we were minus-16 in turnovers. That's one thing that we are trying to work on this year."
The Cogs, who are 3-0 for the first time since 1993, started their third possession again in the Whip-Purs' half of the field at the 46. Billington, who rushed for 135 yards, capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run as G-K led 16-0 after the first quarter.
The Cogs took a 23-0 lead when sophomore Ace McCarty, starting for an injured Chris Wilkins, hit K.C. McCarty for a 17-yard score with 5:19 remaining in the first half.
Brenner returned the ensuing kickoff 69 yards down to the Cogs' 13. Joe Moore's 13-yard touchdown run on the first play and Ron Laramie's 2-point conversion run brought Hampshire within two scores at 23-8.
"Genoa just flat out beat us," Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said. "They controlled the line of scrimmage. That's where you're going to win football games."
The Whip-Purs had a chance to cut the deficit again late in the first half, but the Cogs' T.C. Holterhaus intercepted a pass in the end zone with 35 seconds left in the half to perserve the 23-8 lead.
Holterhaus added two touchdowns runs in the third quarter to help the Cogs beat the Whip-Purs for the first time since 1997.
"I have a lot of confidence that our kids will bounce back. They're tough kids," Cavanaugh said.
-- Brian Schaumburg
CL Central 35, Dundee-Crown 28: Dundee-Crown's defense went fishing Friday night, and the little fish they found was Niemo. Yet, the Chargers couldn't snag Anthony Niemo or the big fish, Anthony Degani, in a 35-28 loss to Crystal Lake Central in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game at the D-C Bowl.
CL Central's main two weapons, Degani and Niemo, scored every touchdown in the game for the Tigers. With the score tied at 21 late in the third quarter, Niemo's second score, a 34-yard run down the sideline, put the Tigers ahead 28-21. The Tigers wouldn't relinquish the lead even when the Chargers looked to climb back as they did earlier in the game.
On the Tigers' 10, Matt Cutinello, who ran for 120 yards, was looking to tie the game on his dash towards the end zone, but Cutinello lost the football. The fumble led to the eventual game winning 56 yard score by Fullback Anthony Degani, giving the Tigers the 35-21 lead.
Degani's performance was one to remember. The fullback ran for 241 yards on the ground and 3 touchdowns to lead his team to victory. His counterpart, Niemo, didn't have that bad of a night either. Niemo couldn't match Degani's 241, but came at the Chargers' defense with 147 yards of his own on the ground with 2 touchdowns. The only bright spot besides Dundee-Crown's efforts all game to keep Central on its heels was Cutinello's 2-yard run in the first, the Chargers' first and only lead of the game.
"We punted twice, we fumbled down there. You can't stop a team from running the ball down your throat," said Chargers coach Mike Davis. "Our kids kept playing hard, kept coming back and didn't give up. They run their offense very well."
Jon McLaughlin, who took over 3 years ago, has Central undefeated for the first time since 1997. Even when the Chargers (1-2) seemed to threaten, McLaughin found a way to calm his team down even as the Chargers looked to come back.
"I told them, don't panic. they're going to make a mistake, and they fumbled the ball."
-- Steve Nichols
Johnsburg 28, Jacobs 20: The Jacobs defense just couldn't contain Johnsburg sophomore receiver CJ Fiedorowicz Friday night.
The 6-foot-7 inch receiver caught 10 passes from quarterback Jerad Grundy including touchdown passes of 19 and 15 yards as the Skyhawks shocked Jacobs 28-20 in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game in Algonquin.
"I can't believe they didn't double-team him (CJ)," said Johnsburg coach Todd Winter. "They bracketed him a few times but really never double-teamed him. We knew they couldn't stop him with 1-on-1 coverage so we kept throwing the ball to him."
Both of Fiedorowicz's touchdown receptions came in the second half.
On the first drive of the second half, the Skyhawks (1-2) extended a 14-7 lead to 21-7 when Grundy hooked up with Fiedorowicz for a 19-yard touchdown. Thomas Kinney's kick gave Johnsburg a 21-7 advantage with only 1:43 elapsed in the second half.
Jacobs (1-2) bounced back on a 12-yard TD by Darius Bowers with 5:48 left in the third to make the score 21-14. But, the Skyhawks regained a 2-touchdown lead when Grundy hooked up with Fiedorowicz from 15 yards out. Kinney's kick lifted the Skyhawks to a 28-14 lead with 3:57 remaining in the third.
"We did everything to stop him," said Jacobs coach Dean Schlueter. "We tried different defenses and tried to put pressure on the quarterback. We just didn't have anybody 6-8 to cover him. The kids played hard. Give Johnsburg credit. They had a lot to do with us losing."
Grundy tore up the Golden Eagle secondary for 362 yards on 20 completions in 36 attempts and 3 touchdowns.
Other than the 2 scores to Fiedorowicz, Grundy tossed a 21-yard strike to John Scully.
"Jerad is a very smart kid and he reads defenses well," said Winter. "We should have won our first two games but lost tough ones to Grant and Richmond-Burton. But, these kids showed a lot of resiliency. Jacobs beat us 32-6 last year and were throwing the ball with a big lead. They embarrassed us and the kids remembered. This is a huge win over a quality Valley school."
Jacobs started strong when Bowers scored on its first play from scrimmage on a 57-yard run. The senior running back managed only 50 yards the rest of the game on 15 carries and ended with 107 yards on 16 carries.
-- Dave Hess
Girls volleyball
FVLA d. Christian Liberty: After dropping Game 1 of a 3-game set 25-9, Fox Valley Lutheran Academy (3-3) bounced back to defeat Christian Liberty by scores of 25-19 and 25-17 despite playing with just five.
Sarah Mounger (5 digs, 4 aces, 5 kills, 2 assists), Catie Mazur (ace, kill), Samantha Pfortmiller (ace, kill, 7 assists) and Alicia Woock (3 kills, assist, 5 digs) led the attack. Meghan Pfortmiller added 2 kills.
Girls golf
Prairie Ridge d. CL Central: With a 45, Allison Holly led Prairie Ridge (4-1, 2-0) and all scores as the Wolves picked up this 198 to 204 Fox Valley Conference Fox Division win the par 37 at Prairie Isle Golf Course. Ashley Dunn added a 45, and Brittany Johnson shot a 51 en route to the win.
Boys golf
Harvard d. Hampshire: While Hampshire's Jeff Cohn led all scores having shot a 44 at the Oak Club of Genoa, Hampshire dropped this Big Northern East Conference contest to Harvard by just one stroke at 192 to 193. Grant Yoder shot a 47 for the Whips.
Boys soccer
Cary-Grove 4, CL Central 3: Trailing on three separate occasions, Cary-Grove (7-0) came from behind and later took a lead which they held on to to remain unbeaten with this nonconference victory.
John Oberlies opened up the scoring and later scored the winning goal on a header with 14 minutes left to play. Conor Keady and Andy Martin (Mike Chiodo assist) scored in between to keep the Trojans in the game.
In goal, Keenan Walsh recorded 5 saves.
Women's volleyball
Judson drops two: Opening play at the Illinois Tech Invitational, Judson fell to Cornerstone University in three games by scores of 30-10, 30-13, 30-23 before later losing to Trinity Christian in five games (30-26, 28-30, 23-30, 20-27, 15-6).
Debra Leganski had 47 digs for the Eagles (4-4) versus Trinity Christian.
Men's soccer
Fresno Pacific 1, Judson 0: Judson (3-1-1) dropped its opener at the Rio Grande Tournament in Ohio to Fresno Pacific (3-0-1).