Without Sheehan, Crystal Lake South nips McHenry
With Corey Sheehan, Crystal Lake South's top rusher this season, out with an ankle injury, the Gators had to look for other people to step up and run the football efficiently.
South found several capable backups in the running game.
Sophomore Kyle Leva carried the ball 20 times for 112 yards as the Gators held on for a 24-21 win over McHenry in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division opener for both teams held at Crystal Lake South Stadium Friday night.
The Gators move to 4-1 overall and will become playoff eligible with a home win against Dundee-Crown next week.
"Coach (Chuck Ahsmann) is always telling us if someone like Corey goes down we have to be ready to play," said Leva. "Corey is a great back and hopefully he will be back next week. But I have to b e ready to play."
The Gators' senior fullback, Dylan Sambrano, ran the ball only 3 times for 14 yards but scored on TD runs of 11 and 2 yards. Sambrano's second score gave South the lead for good, 24-21 with 8:57 remaining.
"We certainly miss Corey but we have a lot of capable backs." said Crystal Lake South coach Chuck Ahsmann. "Kyle Leva for a sophomore ran great and it always nice to see a senior like Dylan Sambrano score some touchdowns. We put it on the offensive line to play well and they did."
Ahsmann was also pleased with the effort of junior quarterback Luke Nolan.
Nolan completed 10-of-17 passes for 121 yards including a 5-yard TD pass to Drew Murtaugh. For the game, the senior receiver caught 3 passes for 73 yards including a catch for 53 yards.
"Luke throws a great ball and did a good job throwing the ball in the pocket and on the run," said Ahsmann. "He gets better every game."
For the winners, Scott Coughlin caught 4 passes for 26 yards and Leva snatched 3 passes for 22 yards.
"Our offensive line did a great job of protecting me," said Nolan. "I had time to throw the ball in the pocket and on the run. We miss Corey but we had a lot of guys step up."
The Gators' opportunistic defense recovered 2 fumbles, 1 each by Tyler Beckwith and Mike Walsh.
McHenry (1-4, 0-1) back Giovani Purpura carried the pigskin 20 times for 144 yards and he scored on a 22-yard run.