Cary-Grove steamrolls Dundee-Crown
Any future Cary-Grove opponents which believes stopping the Trojans' vaunted option offense and ignore the passing game would be foolish.
Yes, the Trojans' machine-like option produced 351 yards. But, Cary-Grove quarterbacks Ben McDonald and Jameson Sheehan combined for a perfect 10-of-10 passing for 144 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The balanced Trojans offense, which compiled 28 first downs and 495 yards of total offense, produced 55 points in cruising to a 55-15 Homecoming win over Dundee-Crown in Fox Valley Conference action in Cary Saturday afternoon.
McDonald was a perfect 7-of-7 passing for 111 yards which included touchdown passes of 19 and 24 yards to Quinn Priester. Jameson, a freshman backup to McDonald, completed all 3 of his passes for 33 yards.
"We know we can be a more effective offense if we can throw the ball and mix the pass and the run," said Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg. "Ben and Jameson threw the ball well and we have good receivers. "
Priester, with 2 touchdown receptions, grabbed 4 passes for 67 yards while Danny Daigle caught 3 passes for 44 yards.
With McDonald's 111 yards passing, the senior quarterback ran 18 times for 174 yards along with scoring runs of 24 and 11 yards.
"Coach thought there were openings where I could run the ball," said McDonald. "We had a lot of designed runs for me."
Blake Skol added 96 yards on 12 carries along with 3 TD runs of 5, 19 and 9 yards.
The D-C (2-3, 1-3) offense, which scored 55 points in a 70-55 loss to Prairie Ridge, scored on the initial drive of the game on a 1-yard run by Ricky Ibarra with 8:17 left. The TD run was set up by a 45-yard pass from Josh Raby to Jordan Hairston.
On the extra point attempt, Raby picked up the botched snap and found Jack Michalski in the end zone for the 2-point conversion and D-C led 8-0.
Cary-Grove's first team defense didn't allow another D-C TD for the game. The Trojans responded by scoring on their first drive of the game on a 24-yard TD run by McDonald with 6:22 left in the first quarter.
"As good as D-C's offense and their quarterback (Raby) are, it was important for us to respond and score on our first drive of the game," said Seaburg. "We gave their quarterback (Raby) too much time to throw on their first drive. We adjusted and put more pressure on him the rest of the game. They have athletic receivers and an outstanding quarterback. Watching on film, we certainly didn't underestimate them."
Raby completed 8-of-19 passes for 91 yards with Hairston catching 4 passes for 57 yards.
"We have trouble against option teams and are glad we don't have to face the option any more," said D-C coach Mike Steinhaus. "Offensively we tried to do much and they felt they had to score on every possession. We were too inconsistent. It was an ugly loss."