Larkin falls to McHenry
Larkin displayed how potent its offensive weapons can be in Saturday night’s nonconference football season opener at McHenry’s McCracken Field.
Senior quarterback Kemmerin Blalark threw for 282 yards with 2 touchdowns to Dante Bonds and another to Quincy Topel. Sophomore Arthur Green caught 5 passes for 56 yards and Damion Clemons rushed for 91 yards.
Unfortunately for the Royals, some self-destructive tendencies kept them from producing as many points as they could have in a 30-18 defeat. They committed 17 penalties for 114 yards, turned over the ball twice and had two empty trips inside the McHenry 10 and another inside the 20.
“Most of the things were just mental mistakes,” Blalark said after completing 21 of 33 passes. “We beat ourselves this game but we’ll be good.”
Larkin reached the McHenry 8 on its opening possession but it came to a screeching halt with two of its five penalties on the drive and three consecutive losses. A penalty on first-and-goal at the 4 on its first possession of the second half saw Blalark stopped a yard short of the end zone on a fourth-down run from the 8.
Larkin got to the Warriors’ 19 on its final possession when Blalark was sacked.
“That’s the difference in the ballgame, it’s as simple as that,” Larkin coach Mike Scianna said of the empty red-zone trips. “It was a really good, physical game and I’m proud of where they’re at. It’s a tight group and they’ll rebound.”
The Royals did early — and quickly — after McHenry scored first on a 1-yard run by junior quarterback Mike Briscoe (9-for-18, 129 yards) with 42.5 seconds left in the first quarter.
Blalark whipped a 20-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Bonds (4 catches, 104 yards). Robkeith Nelson’s 36-yard interception return set up Blalark’s 14-yard touchdown to Topel (6 catches, 82 yards) on fourth-and goal gave Larkin a 12-7 lead 7:12 before halftime.
“I’m a much more confident passer this year,” Blalark said. “I spent a lot of 1-on-1 time with Topel and Bonds and we’re clicking. Every game we’re going to get better.”
A juggled pass led to the first of 2 interceptions by Gino Smith to set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Jordan Johnson (18 carries, 77 yards) that put McHenry ahead to stay at 14-12 with 3:24 left in the half. Johnson scored from 6 yards just 1:40 after halftime and he caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Briscoe for a 27-12 lead with 11:52 to play.
“We didn’t come out in the first half ready to play and we were lucky to be up 2 points in the first half,” said McHenry coach Dave D’Angelo. “I’m proud of the kids for the way they came back and battled and battled.
“Larkin’s a good ballclub. They’ve got a lot of speed and a lot of talent over there.”
Which everyone saw just 17 seconds later when Blalark hit Bonds in stride
for a 68-yard touchdown with 11:35 to play. Larkin outgained McHenry 412-311.
“We’ll be dangerous this year, especially on the offensive side,” Blalark said. “We just have some little things we have to clean up.”