Huntley tops Jacobs for 5th win

Huntley coach John Hart and Jacobs coach Bill Mitz agreed Huntley's offensive line was the difference in the Red Raiders' 37-14 road win on Friday.

Huntley improved to 5-1 overall, 1-1 in the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference by more than doubling the Golden Eagles' offensive output. The Raiders gained 520 total yards, 323 rushing, thanks to the blocking of seniors Justus Wood (5-foot-11, 230 pounds), Tyler Kastner (6-6, 290), Zach Johnson (6-2, 275), Ethan Zeller (6-1, 260) and sophomore Andrew Pertzborn (6-1, 270).

"Their offensive line, they beat us up," Mitz said. "They did a good job. Hats off to their offensive line for their run blocking."

"We just came off the ball every single play," said Wood, a guard. "We really wanted to prove to everybody what we can do when we have the ball in our hands."

Hart said he was proud of the way the offensive line has responded in the wake of injuries to two returning starters. Junior Dominic Swanson (6-1, 245) broke his leg in the season opener and senior Luke Scarbro (6-4, 265) was lost for the season in Week 3 with a back injury. Zeller and Pertzborn replaced them.

"For us to come back and be 5-1, I don't know how many programs can do it," Hart said of the post-injury performance. "I've never done that before. Those were two great players. Our linemen stepped up. We grew up a little bit."

Meanwhile, Jacobs (4-2, 1-1) was limited to 241 total yards. Josh Walker scored 2 touchdowns on runs of 12 and 2 yards, but the Huntley defense limited the senior running back to 36 yards on 15 carries.

Most of Jacobs' yardage came via the pass. Sophomore quarterback Chris Katrenick completed 11 of 27 passes for 222 yards, but he was often thrown out of rhythm by low snaps. Four of them went by Katrenick, who had to fall on the ball for losses. He was also sacked twice. His night ended with 6 carries for negative 36 yards.

"We really never got in rhythm," Mitz said. "There were dropped balls in our hands where we ran before we caught it and we had some tough snaps that were low in the shotgun."

Huntley's offense succeeded on its first possession of the game. Huntley quarterback Anthony Binetti lofted a perfect pass over a defender to senior Kyle Kesul on a wheel pattern, and he scampered 40 yards untouched for the touchdown.

"When the play got called, in practice we were running it and it was going to me every time," said Kesul, who made 4 catches for 83 yards. "Right when I made my break I knew I had to make that catch and go upfield."

A Donnie Young field goal gave Huntley a 10-0 first-quarter lead. The Golden Eagles temporarily avoided falling into a deeper hole when Brenden Heiss intercepted Binetti at his own goal line with 1:25 left in the opening period.

Huntley eventually did extend its lead in the second quarter to 16-0 on a 19-yard touchdown reception by Brandon Altergott, but Jacobs countered on its ensuing possession with a 12-yard run by Walker, who then made a fantastic 2-point conversion reception to halve the deficit.

Huntley took a 23-8 lead in the third quarter by driving 65 yards in 8 plays, capped by Binetti's 2-yard run.

Jacobs responded with a 2-yard scoring run from Walker, which was set up by a 72-yard pass from Katrenick to Camden McLain, who finished with 7 receptions for 153 yards.

Huntley then drove 77 yards in 7 plays, keyed by Casey Haayer's 47 yard run. Josh Esikiel capped the march with a 9-yard touchdown catch on fourth down.

Huntley capped the night with an 80-yard drive that ate nearly six minutes of clock.

"That last drive was classic," Hart said. "We wanted to get tougher and I thought we got a lot tougher tonight. I'm just really proud of them."

Haayer led the Red Raiders with 129 yards rushing on 20 carries, and Eric Mooney finished with 74 yards. Binetti had 93 yards rushing and he completed 15 of 23 passes for 207 yards. He threw 3 touchdown passes and was intercepted twice as the Red Raiders bounced back from a 42-14 loss at Cary-Grove.

"Right after Cary we knew we had to have a great week of practice and we did," Binetti said. "Every play we went 100 percent and that showed."