Cary-Grove stuns Huntley with late TD
Cary-Grove juniors Jason Gregoire and Larkin Hanselmann were not like-minded about their deep thoughts in Friday night's Fox Valley Conference Valley Division showdown at Huntley.
Gregoire thought it was time to throw a hitch-and-go pass with the Trojans staring at a 4-point deficit and a little more than two minutes to play before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 3,500. Hanselmann and receivers coaches Trevor Fritz and Ryan Passaglia believed they needed to go with a backside post pattern to escape a third-and-24 at their own 40 and avoid their first 0-3 start in 11 years.
It certainly looked as if they were on the same page all along when they went with the 5-foot-8, 133-pound Hanselmann's route. He got behind his defender to catch a perfectly lofted pass from Gregoire and race to the end zone with a 60-yard touchdown with 2:08 to play as Cary-Grove (1-2, 1-0) pulled off a stunning 16-13 victory.
“They came up in sort of a press coverage and I knew I could beat my defender,” Hanselmann said. “Jason threw a beautiful pass. It feels great because people said this was like the Fox Valley championship.”
Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg didn't quite see it that way but knew how important it was for his team after losses to state powers Wheaton North and Lake Zurich.
“It's big, it really is,” Seaburg said. “You can say as much as you'd like that if you're 0-3 that you're improving and getting better, but at the end of the day being 1-2 is much better than being 0-3.”
Huntley (2-1, 0-1) appeared to be on the verge of finally beating Cary-Grove for the first time in 10 tries as it overcame a disastrous start and went ahead 13-9 when Blake Jacobs (14-for-26, 142 yards) hit Brandon Altergott with a 21-yard touchdown pass with 11:26 to play.
The Red Raiders had a chance to add to the lead with first-and-goal at the 9. But a badly-missed 35-yard field goal midway through the third quarter led coach John Hart decide to go for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal at the 7 and Matt Hughes sacked Jacobs for an 8-yard loss.
“We left way too many points on the field to let the game be decided by a big play,” Hart said.
Huntley's defense led by Michael Andrews, Brandon Dranka, Jordan Kabb, Michael Walker, Tim McCloyn and Marcus Wright had allowed only 156 yards when Cary-Grove got the ball at its 15 with 3:42 left and no timeouts. Gregoire was just 2-for-9 for 21 yards.
“We just needed to get yards and move the ball as quickly as we could,” Gregoire said as he hit Hanselmann twice for 24 yards before a Huntley pass interference penalty.
A sack by Huntley's Chase Burkart and Jeremy Behnke and an illegal shift penalty put the Trojans in a tough spot. Gregoire and Hanselmann answered with their long-distance connection.
“I knew I could run by him and we called it at the right time,” Hanselmann said.
“I didn't know this until I came back to the sideline and my receivers coaches said Larkin wanted the backside post since the second quarter,” Gregoire said. “The coaches said you can throw the backside post and Larkin made a great play.”
Huntley could get no closer than the 38 and turned it over on downs with 36 seconds left with big plays by Jack Timmins, Trevor Ruhland and Hughes. A safety by Hanselmann and Ray DiMatteo, Willie Hartke's big free-kick return and a 5-yard touchdown run by J.D. Byrne put Cary-Grove up 9-0 just 3:20 into the game.
Jacobs' 2-yard sneak capped a 16-play, 95-yard drive for Huntley with 25 seconds left in the first quarter.
“What I'm most proud about is our kids didn't quit, even on that last drive,” Hart said. “Our kids were still fighting for a chance to win the game.”