Jacobs knocks off Cary-Grove to move to 5-0

In a little over a year, Bill Mitz has certainly turned Jacobs into a winning football program.

The next step for the Golden Eagles is to reach the upper echelon of the Fox Valley Conference.

Jacobs took a giant step in achieving that goal with an impressive 28-20 win over Cary-Grove in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action in Algonquin Friday night.

“This is a heckuva win for the program,” said Mitz. “The kids competed and played hard for four quarters. We made the big plays on offense and defense.”

The win was Jacobs' first over Cary-Grove in 10 years and put the Golden Eagles at 5-0 for possibly the first time in program history.

Cary-Grove (3-2, 0-2), which played without starting running back Ryan Mahoney and linebacker Sam Babick, grabbed a 20-14 lead with 1:42 left in the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Patrick O' Malley.

Jacobs (5-0, 2-0) didn't waste any time in taking the lead for good. On the first play from scrimmage after O' Malley's score, quarterback Jason Judson threw a perfect strike for a 66-yard touchdown to Jake Gierlak. Matt Fahey's kick gave the Golden Eagles a 21-20 advantage with 1:33 left in the third quarter.

Jacobs' defense secured the win late in the fourth quarter. On a fourth-and-2 play from its own 46, Cary-Grove's O'Malley was stopped by Tyler Heiss short of the yard stick giving Jacobs possession of the ball.

Using the clock wisely, Jacobs iced the game on a 5-yard run by Judson with 2 minutes remaining. Judson, who

also threw an 18-yard touchdown to Evan Bishop, was 8-of-10 for 145 yards and 2 scores.

“This is a huge win,” said Judson. “The coaches called a perfect play on the touchdown to Jake. The coaches kept telling us all week we could win this game. That gave us a lot of confidence.”

Cary-Grove quarterback Quinn Baker rushed 25 times for 115 yards and a score.

“The kids competed,” said Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg. “We knew they would throw the ball. They made the big plays and we didn't.”