Prairie Ridge runs past Burlington Central
Prairie Ridge's Mason Loucks doesn't look like a first-year varsity quarterback.
Far from it.
For the second week in a row, Loucks led the Wolves to another big offensive showing. Prairie Ridge defeated Burlington Central, 41-14, Friday in their Fox Valley Conference game, improving the Wolves to 2-0 ahead of a Week 3 matchup at Huntley.
The Wolves ran for 370 yards and, for the second straight week, Prairie Ridge had three players run for more than 100 yards: Loucks (131 yards), Zach Bentsen (129) and Nathan Greetham (121).
Also for a second straight week, Prairie Ridge put up 41 points.
Prairie Ridge coach Chris Schremp said Louck's basketball knowledge has helped the quarterback transition into a new role after playing primarily in the secondary as a sophomore and junior. Loucks is only playing QB because of an injury to starter Tyler Vasey a week before the season started.
"He's just one of those kids who's a gamer," Schremp said. "I really think his basketball background has really helped with playing option quarterback for us. Playing basketball, dishing the ball left and right, that's what we do here. It's great for him to have that experience. The kid is just fearless. He just gets out there and gets after it."
The Wolves built a 28-7 lead at halftime. Louck's second touchdown from 14 yards out in the closing seconds of the first half was an athletic play in which he evaded a tackle in the backfield, switched directions and dived into the corner of the end zone.
Loucks also added a 31-yard score earlier in the second quarter and completed his first pass of the year, a 34-yard strike to Noah Solis. Bentsen had three touchdowns (9, 4 and 15 yards) and Greetham scored on a 6-yard run.
"I feel like it's a good start for us," Loucks said. "We have a lot to prove, and I feel like there's still a lot more to go. I feel like this is a good start, but we can't get complacent. There's still a lot of games to go, and we've got some big tests coming up. I look forward to it."
Schremp had high praise for his offensive line (Jack Schnoor, Sam Schultz, Matt Nygren, Henrik Nystrom and John Fallow), calling them "probably one of more physical lines that we've had."
The Wolves have already ran for 788 yards the first two weeks. They had 418 in a 41-31 win over McHenry in Week 1.
"It's obviously just our foot speed," Schnoor said. "We're quick off the ball and we love to hit out here. When [Tyler] Vasey fell, everyone needed to step up, and I think we all did these first two weeks."
Burlington Central running back Gavin Sarvis scored on a 62-run in second quarter to bring the Rockets (1-1, 1-1 FVC) within a touchdown of the Wolves at 14-7, but was taken out at half and didn't return because of a quad injury.
Burlington quarterback Shawn Adkerson completed only 5-of-21 passes for 61 yards and added 86 yards on the ground. Logan Harlow had two interceptions for Prairie Ridge, and Cole Anderson had one. Schnoor, Matt Fryer and Landon Severson each picked up sacks in the victory.
"We just played sloppy," Burlington coach Brian Melvin said. "Our special teams hurt us tonight, and we've got to find someone to throw the ball to. But that's Prairie Ridge, and they're freakin' good. We were there all night, but it's hard to practice their speed in practice. They're just so good at it. They're just so fluid."
"They're not down. They're a real good football team."