advertisement

Haayer's 3 TDs spark Huntley past Hampshire

Huntley's Casey Haayer just kept running the ball whenever it was handed to him.

"My (running back) coach (Ricky Crider) and head coach (John Hart) keep telling me 'don't think, just do.' So that's the approach I used," Haayer said after scoring 3 of the Red Raiders' 7 touchdowns en route to a workmanlike 46-20 Fox Valley Conference crossover victory Saturday at Hampshire.

Huntley's Hart agreed the time spent mulling about Friday night's start before consecutive lightning delays led to the Saturday-morning restart, didn't necessarily help his squad.

"I thought we did a great job coming out last night, but this morning we often played flat," Hart said. "They did a good job schematically against us, so a combination of their play and us not reacting so well made for an uneven outing. I'm not criticizing our effort, but our concentration and intensity wasn't consistent."

Nevertheless, the Red Raiders (4-0) remained unbeaten and in prime position to return to the Class 8A playoffs. Now comes a trio of home games within the five straight FVC Valley Division contests, starting with next week's showdown in Huntley against fellow unbeaten Cary-Grove, the defending Class 7A state runner-up.

"It's always good to win, and to win on the road; however, there are definitely things we need to clear up before we play Cary-Grove," senior quarterback Anthony Binetti admitted after completing 16-of-27 passes for 277 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions.

After lightning led to a pair of delays and the ultimate decision to push Friday's game to the next day, Huntley had second-and-5 from the Whip-Purs' 9-yard line with 7:17 left in the first quarter. Binetti carried in from the 1 but a PAT pass attempt was incomplete. After Hampshire sandwiched interceptions around one by the Red Raiders, the visitors got the first of Haayer's 3 touchdowns.

Alec Coss snared a Whip-Purs' defensive tip for a 57-yard touchdown pass and a 20-0 lead after Jonathan Alberts booted the second of his 3-for-4 PAT kicks.

The hosts included a sack as part of a defensive stand prior to a drive capped by a Jacob Vincent 26-yard end zone completion to Jake Manning for a potentially positive 20-7 tally. However, a pass of 24 yards from Binetti to Eric Mooney led to another Haayer scoring dash with 34.9 seconds. Haayer had 30 carries for 133 yards as the Red Raiders outrushed their hosts 275-24.

Much to Hampshire's frustration, officials didn't believe Jeremy Curran's knee was down before a strip resulted in a 14-yard fumble return by Huntley's Tyler Larson with 11.9 seconds left.

"I stood the ball carrier up and (Timothy) McCloyn stripped the ball which popped up just right and there was nothing but end zone in front of me," Larson said. "I had a pick-six as a freshman, but this was better considering the hype for this game."

And a 26-point halftime cushion was that much better.

Hampshire made a defensive stand in the third to get first-and-10 from its own 20 when Vincent's sleight of hand fooled even the officials into whistling a possible long run prematurely dead.

"The play right before half really hurt us, I definitely thought he was down but a second or two later, their lead goes up," Hampshire coach Mike Brasile said. "(Then in the second half) we hadn't pulled (handoff) all year and we finally do, and it becomes an unfortunate situation. This is two years we've had an inadvertent whistle work against us versus Huntley.

"It's tough because our defense did a good job of creating some turnovers. Our positive sequences just were not enough today," Brasile added. "We need to refocus for Urbana and a homecoming game as part of our push for a playoff spot."

The final score made for a closer than the game played situation which didn't quite credit the Huntley defense enough.

"We knew they'd be aggressive having the quarterback with the most yards in the league, so our focus was on limiting their trips downfield," Red Raider Tim Ryan said. "It's proof to us that our coaches know what to expect and know how to set us up for success."

From the Hampshire side, the Whip-Purs did play Huntley even up for the second half as Vincent added touchdown completions to Jared Hornbeck and Jared Lund.

"That's just Hampshire football pride; we'll never give up in a game," the Whips' Pawel Barnas said. "We know we've got the community behind us and we want to always represent that we're more than just a football team."

Images: Huntley vs. Hampshire, football

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.