Round-up:Happy homecomng for BC
In recent history, it was not uncommon for Burlington Central to change 100-yard rushers as much as most teams change game socks.
A little rarer was nearly having 3 different 100-yard rushers in the first half of Friday's Big Northern Conference East homecoming game against Marengo.
Greg Dickson (115 yards), quarterback Dan Hagberg (96 yards) and Jason Wagner (95 yards) nearly accomplished that as Central led 36-0 at halftime en route to a 49-7 victory.
Dickson finished with 115 yards and 3 touchdowns and Wagner scored 3 times and finished with 127 yards, including 31 yards and a touchdown while filling in behind center for Hagberg during the second half. Central (3-2, 1-0) held Marengo (0-5, 0-1) to just 10 rushing yards in the first half and 107 overall, most coming after the Rockets' starters cheered from the sidelines during the running clock second half.
"We talked about wanting to play a good, solid four quarters of football," Central coach Aaron Wichman said. "Our defense has been playing really well the last few weeks. We always feel if we stop the run first then good things will happen."
Central's running game made a lot of good things happen.
After forcing Marengo to a 3-and-out of its first possession, Dickson took the first handoff and ran it 73 yards into the end zone. A botched snap forced Hagberg to throw in the extra point. Hagberg's rushed throw bounced off of Rockets' tight end Bryan Bell and a Marengo defender before finding its way to Curt Mastio with 9:55 left in the first half.
Dickson's encore was rushing in 2 and 1-yard scores in the first half to equal his touchdown total of the first four games.
"It was well worth it to wait until homecoming to do it," Dickson said of the scoring spree.
Wagner was also busy in the first half. After forcing a Marengo 3-and-out on its second possession, Wagner plowed in from 15 yards out to put the Rockets up 15-0. The senior would add another score with 19 seconds left in the first half.
Dickson recovered the first of Marengo quarterback Scott Donley's 3 turnovers in the game, scooping up a fumble to set up first-and-10 at the Marengo 34. The turnover allowed Wagner to score from a yard out with 19 seconds left in the first half.
Donley (4-of-11, 99 yards, 61 yards rushing, 1 touchdown) was also picked off by Frank Wleklinski and had a second fumble recovered by Jon Quintero.
"They beat the crap out of us," Marengo coach Matt Lynch said. "They played hard."
Wagner added a 17-yard score with 9:01 left in the third quarter to force the running clock and junior Nick Smith dashed in for a 15-yard touchdown as time ran out.
Marian Central 30, St. Edward 0: Unfortunately, in 2007, St. Edward's success on the football field can't be measured with victories.
Despite, playing Marian Central, the top ranked team in Class 5A tough for a half, the Green Wave fell to the Hurricanes 30-0 in a Suburban Catholic Conference game at Marian Central Friday night.
It was the 25th straight loss for the Green Wave (0-5, 0-3) while the top ranked Hurricanes are 5-0 overall and 3-0 in SCC play.
St. Edward played right with the powerful Hurricanes in the first half.
The Green Wave defense held Marian Central to only 10 points during the first 24 minutes.
Marian Central didn't get on the scoreboard until the 4:42 mark of the first quarter when TJ Pappas reached paydirt from 8 yards out.
Alec Grazier's kick gave Marian a 7-0 lead.
The Hurricanes' only other points came on a 26-yard field goal by Grazier with 5:22 remaining in the first half as Marian Central held a 10-0 advantage at halftime.
"We have had a lot of lapses on defense this season, but the kids played a great first half," said St Edward coach Mike Rolando. "We threw a bunch of sophomores out there and they did a great job. "
Marian Central, which threw 16 times in the first half, abandoned the passing game on the first drive of the second half.
Chewing up 7 minutes and 18 seconds, The Hurricanes marched 82 yards in 15 plays For a touchdown. The drive comprised of 12 runs and 3 passes as Pappas scored from 1 yard out with 4:42 remaining. The kick by Grazier was good and the Hurricanes led 17-0.
"We didn't pound the ball enough in the first half," said Marian Central coach Ed Brucker. "We wanted to come out in the second half and establish the Run and play smash mouth football. That first drive was very important We were very patient."
The Hurricanes did score their final 2 TDs via the airwaves. Andrew Stochl, subbing for the injured Jonathan Budmayr, tossed a 6-yard TD to Erik Reibel and threw a 23-yard touchdown strike to Jordan Peart.
Stochl ended the game, completing 16-of-24 passes for 219 passes and 2 scores with 1 Interception by St Edward defensive back Josh Scholly. Peart caught 9 passes for 114 yards and a score for the winners.
St. Edward, which didn't have any passing yardage, managed 102 yards on the ground.
Jimmy Mathisen paced the Green Wave with 33 yards on 9 carries as the visitors from Elgin could only pick up 6 first downs.
-- Dave Hess
St. Charles East 30, Lake Park 0: St. Charles East football coach Ted Monken had plenty to be pleased about Friday night in Roselle.
His defensive line continued to come together, and new punt returner Eian O'Brien gave the team a spark on special teams. Added together, Monken's Saints convincingly shut down Lake Park 30-0.
O'Brien's punt-return touchdown came just 1:32 after the Saints grabbed the first lead of the game on a four-yard touchdown pass from Samuel Gunther to Jacob Krzeczowski.
O'Brien fielded Larry Nawrot's punt on his own 32-yard line, then cut up the right sideline and through the Lancer defense to put St. Charles East (4-1, 3-0 Upstate Eight Conference) ahead 13-0.
Monken inserted O'Brien on special teams this week, replacing senior Matthew Hammer.
"The new wrinkle is we got (O'Brien) back there," Monken said. "He's finally got some confidence that he would be able to catch the punt and not have to worry about it.
"We were confident Eian would do a great job, and what a spark he gave us. He's got tremendous speed, and he showed he could catch the ball and do something with it."
Not to be outdone, Hammer also ignited the Saints offense, catching a Gunther pass over the middle and twisting 18 yards to the left pylon just 0:06 before halftime.
"We had some drives fizzle out, we missed a field goal, so we really had moved the ball and very likely could have had a couple more scores," Monken said. "To put that one in before the half was definitely huge."
Junior Wesley Allen built on his success from a week ago, torching the Lancers for 219 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown that made the score 29-0 in the third quarter.
Perhaps most impressively, though, the Saints held Lake Park (1-4, 0-3 UEC) to just 99 yards of total offense, as the defensive line consistently won the battle in the trenches.
"That group has been such a tremendous surprise," Monken said.
Lake Park's rushing game never got going, averaging merely two yards per carry.
"We couldn't block (defensive tackle David Mashai)," Lancers coach Andy Livingston said. "They got a whole lot of good defensive players."
With a relatively young team, Livingston hopes his players learn from their mistakes Ȣ₈¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ specifically concerning Hammer's touchdown and O'Brien's return.
"If we could have sucked it up for another 15 seconds thereȢ₈¬Ã‚ˆ¦that's a huge learning curve," he said. "You give up a 70-yard return, that happens in 10 seconds, and all of a sudden the momentum is really gone."
-- Matthew McClarey
Hampshire 35, North Boone 7: NORTH BOONE -- Hampshire's 35-7 defeat of North Boone Friday night wasn't your typical blowout. Hampshire led just 7-0 in the third quarter before a spate of Viking mistakes led to 21 quick Whip-pur points.
The third-quarter flurry allowed Hampshire to spoil the Vikings' homecoming in the Big Northern East opener for both teams.
T.J. Burzak had 103 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Joe Moore ran for 65 yards and 2 scored amid a slew of turnovers and penalties by both teams.
The game was delayed for nearly an hour by lightning with 3:17 to go in the second quarter.
North Boone turned the ball over 5 times. Already leading 7-0 on Moore's 12-yard touchdown run on their opening possession, the Whips took advantage of the Vikings' largesse to break the game open.
After a bad snap on a punt attempt gave Hampshire the ball on the North Boone 16-yard line, the Whips needed just 4 plays to score. Moore took it in from the 1.
On their very next play from scrimmage, the Vikings fumbled and Hampshire recovered 30 yards away from paydirt. Trace Teboda's pass to Burzak covered the last 23 yards.
After the kickoff, the Vikings fumbled the ball away again. This time, the Whips needed just 2 plays to score, with James Goebbert running the final 10 yards.
Hampshire (4-1) scored again on a 67-yard pass from Teboda to Burzak in the fourth quarter. The Vikings (2-3) finally got on the board with an 18-yard pass from Alex Beck to Ryan Majewski.
The Whips rushed for 245 yards, split among 9 ballcarriers. Teboda wound up as the leading rusher with 84 yards on just 7 carrier. Rob Tiojanco added 34 yards for the Whips.
After passing for just 23 yards in the first half, Teboda wound up completing 7 of 12 for 158 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Defensively, Burzak, Moore, and Quinn Walker all intercepted Beck, and Teboda came up with a fumble recovery.
Hampshire marched downfield with the opening kickoff to take the early lead on Moore's run. But their subsequent drives stalled. A high snap on a punt attempt gave the Vikings the ball at the Hampshire 19-yard line, but the defense held. North Boone faced third down at the 23 when lightning halted the game. On the first play after the delay, Moore picked off Beck's pass in the end zone to end the threat.
-- Allen Oshinski
McHenry 48, Dundee-Crown 12: The Dundee-Crown Chargers were unable to recover after falling behind early against the McHenry Warriors Friday losing 48-12.
McHenry opened the game off with an 89 yard kick return by Mark D'Angelo that led to an early 7-0 advantage.
McHenry was able to hold Dundee-Crown from answering and struck again quickly during their second play on offense. Mike Soto took off for 49-yards that left the Chargers trailing 13-0 just minutes into the game.
In the second quarter, D-C was able to move the ball up the field with the help of Ian Salvantini that set up a 14-yard touchdown run from Ryan Horcher to cut the lead to 13-6.
McHenry just didn't let up answering with 21 unanswered second quarter points to take 34-6 lead that included a 45-yard fumble return for a touchdown and a 64-yard interception return for a touchdown.
"You can't give up 21 points to anyone early and expect to win," Dundee-Crown coach Mike Davis said.
"The kids just need to keep going out there and playing hard."
-- Todd Johnson
Cary-Grove 21, Jacobs 14: Cary-Grove had beaten Jacobs the last two seasons by a combined score of 75-0, so being in a tight ballgame with the Trojans to the end was akin to winning a small battle for Jacobs on homecoming night in Algonquin Friday.
But Cary-Grove won the war with a 21-14 victory in the Valley Division opener for both Fox Valley Conference teams, a game both coaches called "a great high school football game."
The Trojans (4-1, 1-0) overcame a 7-0 deficit with a pair of 45-yard touchdown passes from quarterback A.J. Hoger to Dan McCall in the second quarter and took a 21-0 lead early in the second half on a long drive
But Jacobs (2-3, 0-1) scored late in the fourth quarter on a Darius Bowers 9-yard run and the game wasn't sealed until the Trojans' Kyle Gray fell on an onside kick with 2:03 to play and picked up first-down yardage 3 plays later to run out the clock.
McCall was the hero for the Trojans. The 6-foot-1 senior receiver made 5 catches for 118 yards and got behind the Jacobs twice for big plays.
"We knew what kind of coverage they were playing all night," McCall said. "Their free safeties played up real tight, so we knew coming into the game we'd be able to take advantage of the deep pass over the middle and that's what we did. It was all about execution. We just executed great on offense."
Leading 14-7 at halftime, the Trojans opened the second half by using 7 running plays to march 73 yards in 3:47.
Senior running back Kyle Gray took a Hoger pitch to the left side, got a great downfield block from Jacob Gerhardt and ran 40 yards untouched to the end zone to put Cary-Grove ahead 21-17 with 8:10 to play in the third quarter.
"We did a fine job of executing and we had the angles we needed," Cary-Grove coach Bruce Kay said. "The kids just did a fine job. They performed. They answered the call right off the bat in the that third quarter."
The Jacobs offense couldn't gain traction in the second half, however. The Trojan defense forced 3 punts in a row, then forced a turnover on downs at the Jacobs 33 with 6:33 left in the game.
"Our line does a fine job, but their defense fills every gap, so it's kind of hard," said Jacobs running back Darius Bowers. The leading rusher in the area coming into the game, Bowers was limited to 45 yards rushing on 16 attempts.
Jacobs finally gained a chunk of yards with some trickery: Nate Mohlman's 53-yard reverse pass to quarterback Kyle Magnuson. Bowers cashed in 6 plays later with a 9-yard scoring run, but Cary-Grove recovered the onside kick with 2:03 to play, gained the necessary first down and ran out the clock.
Jacobs took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 3-yard pass from Magnuson to Alex Anderson on fourth-and-goal.
"I'm just really proud of our whole team and how we gave a championship effort," Jacobs coach Dean Schlueter said. "I couldn't be prouder of our team. (The Trojans) are a good team. We came up a little bit short and we have to give them credit. I thought it was a good football game. We'll learn from it and come back next week ready to go."
-- Jerry Fitzpatrick