Cary-Grove tunes up for Huntley with big win
Cary-Grove displayed an offense that could score by taking its time or by wasting almost no time Friday night at Al Bohrer Field.
What really mattered to the state's top-rated Class 7A team by The Associated Press was reaching the end zone the seven times they had full possessions in their Fox Valley Conference football crossover with Woodstock North. The Trojans rolled up 463 yards of total offense on their way to a 47-7 victory.
"We love the explosive plays and we love the long drives," said Cary-Grove quarterback Jason Gregoire after he accounted for 213 yards of total offense and 3 touchdowns in 2½ quarters of playing time.
Gregoire's 29-yard run capped a 13-play, 85-yard march that ate up the first 5:32 behind Trevor Ruhland, Michael Gomez, Owen Henriques, P.J. Bardgett, Scott Topole, Erik Norberg and Jimmy Freskos. That put the Trojans (4-0) in control heading into next week's FVC Valley home showdown with visiting Huntley (4-0).
"Being able to execute at will, no matter what opponent it is, is always a great feeling," Gomez said. "Since 2004 (Class 7A state runner-up), because we honored them (Friday), we feel like obviously the running game is our biggest thing."
The next time the Trojans got the ball, Gregoire (8 carries, 129 yards) raced 58 yards up the middle into the end zone. A 1-yard run by Tyler Pennington (8 carries, 48 yards) capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive and Connor Leach's interception set up a quick 34-yard scoring strike from Gregoire (4-for-6, 82 yards) to Larkin Hanselmann for a 27-0 lead 6:17 before halftime.
"Jason had a real nice game," said Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg. "He was pretty efficient and he got us in the right place as he typically does. He's a very smart and mature player and the kids feed off his leadership."
Touchdown runs of 19 yards by Kevin Hughes, 5 yards by Kyle Pressley (8 carries, 69 yards) and 15 yards by Thor Halverson put the Trojans up 47-0 with 10:53 to play. But they also kept the Thunder (1-3) from cutting its deficit in half to start the second quarter when George Hartke recovered a fumble in the end zone on third-and-goal at the 1.
"Being able to do that was obviously a good feeling," Gomez said. "That's a huge blow because it felt like it was about to be a one-possession game."
Woodstock North broke the shutout on Randall Kline's 6-yard touchdown run with 2:45 to play.
"They've got some dudes who can run and can block real well," said Thunder coach Jeff Schroeder. "I coached against their 2009 (state title) team and I think this team is better than that team. It's our misfortune that when we draw them they seem to be pretty dang good."