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CARY – Although they led by 20 points at halftime, Cary-Grove needed to do something to slow down Belleville West. At the time, the Maroons were moving the ball on offense and seemed to gain some confidence, forcing Cary-Grove to punt on the opening series of the third quarter.
Punter Bobby Collins, who was also the starting quarterback Friday with JP Sullivan unable to go because of illness, took the snap and instead of punting it to Belleville West, threw a perfect pass to Jimmy Freskos, who went the distance for a 78-yard touchdown and took the life out of any hope of Belleville West comeback.
The Trojans rolled from there as the No. 5 seed defeated the No. 28-seed Maroons 48-7 in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs at Cary-Grove High School. The Trojans will face the winner of Saturday’s matchup between (21) St Charles North and (12) Benet Academy.
After forcing the Maroons to punt on its first series, Cary-Grove (9-1) did what it does best: March down the field with its potent rushing attack. The Trojans took the lead after a nine-play, 83-yard drive on a touchdown run by Tyler Pennington. Pennington finished with three touchdowns on the night.
Belleville West (5-5) started to move the ball on its second series, before fumbling at the C-G 28-yard line. The Trojans would increase the lead on a touchdown pass from Collins to Kevin Hughes.
The Maroons put together a scoring drive late in the first quarter and made it a game before C-G answered with another Pennington touchdown. From there, the Trojans' defense took over with six sacks, three of which were by senior Erik Norberg.
“Our defensive backs did an awesome job of giving us time to get to the quarterback and that allowed me to get a few sacks,” Norberg said. “This was a total team effort on defense tonight.”
Trojans coach Brad Seaburg was impressed with how his defense stopped Belleville West.
“Not many teams held them to seven points this season,” Seaburg said. “Belleville West is a talented team with a really good offensive line. I was happy with how we shut them down especially in the second half.”
Unsung Hero
Bobby Collins
Cary-Grove, junior, quarterback
Making his first varsity start in place of JP Sullivan, who was sick all week. Collins completed all three of his pass attempts for 145 yards and two touchdowns to help lead the Trojans to victory.
The Number
555: Total yards on offense for Cary-Grove.
And Another Thing
With its victory, Cary-Grove has now won at least one playoff game every season since 2004.
Cary-Grove 48, Belleville West 7
Belleville West 7 0 0 0 - 7
Cary-Grove 13 14 14 7 - 48
First quarter
CG- Pennington 7 run (kick blocked), 7:47
CG- Hughes 55 pass from Collins (Walsh kick), 4:16
BW-Betz 1 run (Hirst kick), 0:41
Second Quarter
CG- Pennington 7 run (Walsh kick), 9:58
CG- Pennington 7 run (Walsh kick), 0:46
Third quarter
CG-Freskos 78 pass from Collins (Walsh kick), 9:29
CG- Skol 17 run (Walsh kick), 5:30
Fourth Quarter
CG-Pressley 1 run (Walsh kick), 11:28
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING- Belleville West: Betz 12-13, Boyd 7-52, Coleman 5-20, Foster 4-30, Davis 1-4, Anderson 2- -4. Totals: 31-115.
Cary-Grove: Pennington 21-150, Magel 9-83, Hughes 4-42, Collins 6-6, Skol 3-92, Pressley 3-17, Priester 2- -4. Totals 53-410.
PASSING-Belleville West: Betz 9-21-0-107 . Cary-Grove: Collins 3-3-0-145, Priester 0-0-0-0.
RECEIVING-Belleville West: Anderson 5-41, Anthony 1-32, Sisk 1-10, Lanfersieck 1-5, Davis 1-19. Cary-Grove: Hughes 1-55, Freskos 1-78, Pressley 1-12.
TOTAL TEAM YARDS: Belleville West 222, Cary-Grove 555.