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Bliteck, Tigers topple Dundee-Crown

Crystal Lake Central's Brent Blitek turned in a performance he will never forget.

The senior running back scored five of the seven Tigers touchdowns as they defeat Dundee-Crown 48-20 in the Fox Valley Conference game Friday night at the D-C Bowl.

"We stepped it up tonight, no doubt about it and the offensive line did an amazing job, it feels really good," Blitek said.

Blitek ended the night with 231 yards on 31 carries, scoring on touchdowns runs of 4, 16, 3, 5 and 11 yards.

While his night led the way to a 28-point victory, this was a hard-fought game.

On the game's first play from scrimmage, Central (3-2, 3-2) fumbled the ball, D-C recovered. The Chargers capitalized and jumped out to the quick 6-0 lead with running back Keegan Otte scoring a 1-yard run.

The Tigers found their traction, though, on their next drive, marching 75 yards on nine plays. Blitek finished the drive with the 4-yard touchdown run to make it 7-6 Tigers in the first quarter.

Blitek and Otte kept the pace going in the second quarter. Blitek scored a 16-yard touchdown, Otte raced for a 66-yard score. Blitek ended the quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run, giving the Tigers the 20-13 halftime lead.

While Central's offense was humming, the defense was making it tough for the Chargers.

The Tigers defense recorded three sacks and forced two punts in the first half to help keep the Chargers in check.

"We added a few more wrinkles, with blitzes and alignments and we have some kids that can get to the ball, so we wanted to create havoc and it seemed to really work," Central coach Jon McLaughlin said.

The best of example of Central's combined efforts from defense and offense came later in the fourth quarter. D-C went for it on fourth-and-2 early in the quarter, really needing to keep its drive alive, but the Tigers defense made a big stop, handing the ball back over to their offense.

On the next play, quarterback Jason Penza threw a perfect pass to Jacob Carnrite for a 44-yard score.

Penza stepped into the starting job and played very well. He ended the night going 15 of 25 for 215 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for a touchdown.

Carnrite had three catches for 70 yards and Nathan Barbalace had three catches for 72 yards.

For the Chargers (0-5, 0-5), Otte ran hard all night. The junior ended with 164 yards on 23 carries with two rushing touchdowns while also catching a 36-yard touchdown reception.

"He plays so hard all the time, I think the whole conference is seeing that, he's a good player and we'll keep feeding him," D-C head coach Mike Steinhaus.

Chargers quarterback Zach Randl was 10-17 passing for 103 yards and a touchdown.

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