Huntley back on track with big win over Dundee-Crown
Melvin Aninagyei-Bonsu smiled and said he is not much of a peanut M & M guy.
But Huntley players, coaches and fans certainly enjoy how sweet it is when Aninagyei-Bonsu and Eric Mooney have the football in their hands.
They didn't have it much in Friday night's Fox Valley Conference football game at Dundee-Crown. When they did it was a real treat for the Red Raiders as Aninagyei-Bonsu rushed for career-highs of 165 yards and 4 touchdowns on just 12 carries and Mooney turned 12 plays into 166 total yards and 2 touchdowns in a 56-12 victory in Carpentersville.
"Eric and I have a little nickname - M & M," Aninagyei-Bonsu said after rushing for touchdowns of 2, 59 and 3 yards in the opening 13:07. "We're like candy.
"We're both very dynamic. We have speed, elusiveness and agility that is extremely beneficial to our team.
"When both of us and our offensive line are working with cohesiveness, doing what we do and breaking ankles, the sky is the limit."
Huntley (2-1, 2-1) ran just 30 plays to eat up 386 yards of total offense behind the offensive line of Joe Wilson, Justin Precour, Cade Golembeck, Benjamin Dworski and Tommy Ryan. The most time-consuming drive to score was the game-opener that took just 1:50 to march 66 yards in 6 plays.
But that was nothing like the third quarter where the Red Raiders scored on the first four plays they ran. Mooney (4 carries, 91 yards; 4-for-8 passing, 75 yards) and Aninagyei-Bonsu raced 46 and 54 yards around the left side respectively, Mooney found Michael Boland for 35 yards on a deep slant and Brian O'Mara went 9 yards on a jet sweep for a 49-12 lead.
"It's nice having great breakaway speed from more than just one guy," said Wilson, who is the only returning starter up front. "When you have breakaway speed from three or four guys, you can break some long plays and get off the field and let the defense do their job."
Huntley did that as Blake Ottavino stopped the first D-C (0-3, 0-3) drive of the game 2 yards short of the end zone and safety Patrick Roppolo had an interception to set up Aninagyei-Bonsu's third touchdown. Andrew Hecht finished the scoring with a 6-yard run that started the running clock for the final 11:50.
And the Red Raiders wasted no time rebounding from last week's 51-43 loss to defending state champion Prairie Ridge and not having head coach Matt Zimolzak, who could not be at the game per IHSA rules because of his ejection from the game.
They were challenged as D-C got within 21-6 just before halftime on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Josh Raby to Ricky Ibarra. A 4-yard touchdown run by Ibarra made it 28-12 with 4:49 left in the third.
"I think we learned some stuff about what our guys can do better than before," said Huntley assistant coach Mike Slattery, who helped run the team with Paul Reinke in Zimolzak's absence. "Our kids kept their composure through some adversity on the field.
"Give Dundee-Crown credit. They're improving and doing some things that are tough to defend."
Ibarra ran for 60 yards on 19 carries and Raby and tight end Jack Michalski connected 6 times for 90 yards for the Chargers.
"I'm extremely proud of our guys," said D-C coach Mike Steinhaus. "They kept their heads up, kept fighting and didn't quit."