Prairie Ridge humbles Huntley
Huntley quarterback Jake Brock had 27 pass attempts in his first 2 games.
The senior threw the ball 20 times in the first half of the Red Raiders’ game against visiting Prairie Ridge alone.
Huntley was playing without starting running back Ethan Connor and took what the Wolves, who are ranked No. 4 in the state’s AP poll, gave them.
Prairie Ridge wasn’t giving up much as the Wolves rolled to a 43-2 running clock victory in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division opener for both teams Friday night.
“We went into the game with our normal mindset,” said Brock, who went 9 of 25 for 117 yards. “In the game we made adjustments with what was working for us.”
Brock completed all 9 of his passes in the first half after the Wolves (3-0, 1-0) went up 15-0 halfway through the first quarter. Wolves quarterback Nick Nissen threw for a touchdown and ran for another, adding a 2-point conversion after the second score.
It wasn’t until after Red Raiders’ cornerback Devan Kennedy stuffed PR running back Kerry Kohlbacher in the end zone for a safety that Huntley (0-3, 0-1) went to the air.
Brock threw on 11 of the Red Raiders’ next 19 offensive plays, but couldn’t find the end zone. Both offensive series ended with incomplete passes.
“There were some routes we knew we were going to have on them,” Huntley coach Matt Gehrig said. “They expected us to be run- oriented. Their linebackers came out on us and we had the flats.”
Brock’s favorite target was Johnny Walker in the flat as the duo hooked up 5 times for 53 yards.
But the Wolves’ arieal attack wasn’t lacking for yards either. Nissen was 8 of 10 for 183 yards and 3 touchdowns. All 3 scoring passes went to Jordan Getzelman on receptions of 9, 68 and 17 yards. Getzelman added a 54-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and finished with 68 yards on 5 carries.
Connor Greenwald punched in a 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to ignite the running clock. The Wolves credited their option offense with opening up the passing attacks and being able to spread the ball out all over the field.
“Our option has many option,” Wolves’ coach Chris Schremp said. “We’ll run the ball and when we get the safeties cheating up to stop the option, then we’ll start throwing.”