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Elgin can't solve McHenry

It was a good news, bad news night for the Elgin Maroons football team.

The positive vibes came in the second half when the Maroons played McHenry on even terms with both teams scoring 14 points.

Unfortunately for Elgin, McHenry dominated the first 24 minutes of play, outscoring Elgin 29-0 in the first half.

The result was a 43-14 nonconference win for the host Warriors at McHenry's McCracken Field Friday night.

"Our motto for this team is that we never quit," said Elgin coach Anthony Mason. "These kids always play hard for 48 minutes. We made some adjustments offensively and defensively at halftime and played a much better second half. We can take positives from the second half."

The Maroons' (1-2) touchdowns in the second half came on a 2-yard run from Trevon Morris and a 9-yard pass from Morris to Roy Panthier.

"Trevon got the offense going in the second half," said Mason. "It was nice to get some scores."

The opportunistic McHenry defense picked off Elgin starting quarterback Kristan Flowers 4 times in the first half.

Kennedy Kosmalski collected 2 interceptions including a 45-yard touchdown to end the first half which gave the Warriors (2-1) a 29-0 advantage heading into the halftime locker room.

Aaron Wagner and Braden Crowley also had picks for the winners.

"Our strength on defense is our defensive backs and our secondary," said McHenry coach Nat Zunkel. "We have great talent and experience in the secondary. They do a great job of preparing during the week and they read offenses so well."

McHenry, which managed 350 yards on the ground and 17 first downs, got a great effort from senior running back Mike McManus, who gained 176 yards on 16 carries including touchdown runs of 45 and 1 yards.

"He was a tough back and we didn't do a good job on him in the first half," said Mason. "We didn't tackle well. Our defensive coaches made some adjustments at halftime and we held him down in the second half."

Zunkel praised McManus' effort.

"He has really worked hard in the off season," said Zunkel. "He has great vision and sees the field very well. He follows his blockers very well. He had a very nice game."

Senior quarterback Patrick Breisch who ran 11 times for 71 yards, scored on a 41-yard touchdown run. Breisch, 3-for-9 passing for 42 yards, also tossed a 14-yard scoring pass to Kosmalski.

Elgin sophomore cornerback Xavier Bonds picked off a Breisch pass.

Crowley rushed for 58 yards on 8 carries and scored on a 28-yard TD run and caught 2 passes for 28 yards.

"It was a good bounce back win after a tough loss against Cary-Grove last week," said Zunkel. "These kids are resilient. We had a great week of practice and were ready to play. We are a little out of sync in the second half but overall I was pleased with the way we played."

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