Elgin stumbles vs. McHenry
It didn't take long for McHenry to get the offense going at Elgin's Memorial Field on Friday night and once the Warriors got rolling there was no stopping them.
The fans had barely settled into their seats when McHenry quarterback Colton Klein found a wide open Gio Purpura with a pass about 20 yards down the right side of the field on the first play from scrimmage. Purpura raced the rest of the way into the end zone for a 68-yard touchdown.
Klein would go on to throw 4 touchdown passes and for 236 yards on 10-of-14 passing to lead the Warriors (2-1) to a 48-6 rout of the Maroons (0-3) in nonconference action.
"We had that first play designed all week and it really worked," Klein said. "It was a great way to start. I have to thank my O-line for giving me all day to throw the whole game. Everybody on the team stepped up and did their job. When everyone does there one-eleventh it all comes together."
After missing a field goal on their second possession the Warriors scored the next 4 times they had the ball and added a defensive touchdown to lead 42-0 at halftime.
Klein added touchdown passes of 11 yards to Braden Crowley and 9 yards to Kennedy Kosmalski in the first half. The Warriors' running game did its part, too, racking up 184 yards in the first half and 228 for the game.
Mike Mcmanus led McHenry in rushing with 67 yards on 5 carries. He had a 4-yard touchdown run in the first half. Purpura added an 18-yard touchdown run in the first half.
"Being so diverse on offense makes a big difference," Klein said. "We were able to run the ball in the tackle box and that really set up the passing game."
Justin Andrade had a 33-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first half. The Warriors' only score in the second half came on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Klein to Crowley.
The McHenry defense held Elgin to just 24 yards in the first half.
"I was proud the way we got going right away," McHenry coach Nat Zunkel said. "We were coming off a tough loss last week, so it was good to get off to a fast start. We have some special kids on offense when they get into open space. It felt good to be able to get them the ball. The defense did exactly what they are coached to do and made the plays."
The Maroons' only score came midway through the fourth quarter when quarterback Titus Ahrens threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Roy Panthier. After a shaky first half Ahrens completed all 5 of his pass attempts in the second half for 50 yards. Shareick Morris ran hard to lead Elgin in rushing with 49 yards on 13 carries.
"Forty-two to nothing at halftime is tough to take,"Elgin coach Anthony Mason said. "They came out and took it right to us. Our main focus on defense is stopping the run and not allowing the big play and they came right out and got a big play right away. We can't let that happen. On defense they changed things up by going with a three-man front and that threw off our blocking schemes. We weren't ready for that. It was good though to see the kids keep making plays in the second half."