High school football: Cary-Grove rolls past Hampshire

CARY – Coming into Friday’s Fox Valley Conference game at Al Bohrer Field, visiting Hampshire wanted to make a statement and prove it could play with area power Cary-Grove.

The Trojans, who were a final four team in Class 7A a year ago, weren't having any of that.

Instead, Cary-Grove junior Max Skol (18 carries, 78 yards) sent the Whip-Purs a resounding message during the game's opening moments, as the Trojans pounded Hampshire, 62-12.

Skol scored on the ground from a yard out on the Trojans' first drive, then 58 seconds later, blocked a punt that set up his second touchdown run of the quarter.

"Getting off to a quick start was really important to us," Skol said. "We wanted to set the tempo right away. But it wasn't just me. This was a total team effort. And our coaches called a great play on my blocked punt that allowed me to get off the edge in a hurry without too much trouble. Credit to them, too."

Cary-Grove (2-1, 1-1) racked up 312 yards on the ground on 36 carries, finished with 412 total yards of offense, and got rushing scores from three other players following Skol's dominant start.

Senior Ryan Magel (five carries, 83 yards) scored three touchdowns, while Quinn Priester (59 yards) and James Johnson (33 yards) both added rushing touchdowns on their only offensive touches.

Trojans quarterback Bobby Collins (3-for-3, 100 yards) completed all three of his pass attempts. Two of them were to senior Oscar Rivera, who found the end zone from 29 and 46 yards out.

"Our success running the ball really opened up our air attack the few times we did throw it," Rivera said. "Hampshire had to commit to the run, and Bobby executed the play calls perfectly when the time came."

Defensively, Cary-Grove contained Hampshire quarterback Jake Vincent (14-for-29, 159 yards, TD, INT), routinely flushing him out of the pocket and forcing him to hurry many of his throws. They also sacked him three times.

Vincent came into the game leading MeHenry County in passing yards, but did manage to find Jared Hornbeck on a 73-yard fly route for a touchdown just before halftime.

Hornbeck also ripped off a 96-yard kickoff return for a score earlier in the game for Hampshire (2-1, 1-1).

After the game, Whip-Purs coach Mike Brasile shook every one of his players' hands as they passed him in a single file line.

"I was extremely proud of our guys' efforts tonight," Brasile said. "They could've quit when things got ugly early-on, but they didn't. They didn't hang their heads. They didn't get mad at each other. They just kept fighting. That says an awful lot to me about their character and heart. We'll bounce back from this."

UNSUNG HERO

Max Skol

Cary-Grove, jr., DB/HB

Within the first two minutes, Skol had a huge impact on both sides of the ball. First, he tallied 1-yard touchdown run a minute in. Then he blocked a punt deep in Hampshire territory 56 seconds later. He wasn't done. He scored again on the ground — again from a yard out — on the next play.

QUICK STATS

Hampshire 0      12       0 0         —   12

Cary-Grove                  14      28      13 7        —   62

SCORING

First Quarter

C-G — Skol 1 run,10:56

C-G — Skol 1 run, 9:58

Second Quarter

C-G — Magel 9 run, 10:48

C-G — Rivera 29 pass from Collins, 9:21

H — Hornbeck 96 kickoff return, 9:04 (kick failed)

C-G — Magel 32 run, 3:43

H — Hornbeck 73 pass from Vincent, 1:32 (kick failed)

C-G — Priester 59 run, 0:03

Third Quarter

C-G — Magel 21 run, 9:06 (kick failed)

C-G — Rivera 46 pass from Collins, 7:15

Fourth Quarter

WN — Johnson 6 run, 7:31

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Cary-Grove: Magel 5-83, Skol 18-78, Priester 1-59, Johnson 1-33, Perez 5-22, Rivera 1-15, Battaglia 2-14, Collins 2-9, Pressley 1- minus 1. Totals: 36-312. Hampshire: See 6-22, Fleury 4-16, Tuzak 5-13, Laffin 1-2, Harraz 1- minus 2, Vincent 7- minus 3, Corcelles 3- minus 6. Totals: 27-42.

PASSING–Cary-Grove: Collins 3-3-0-100, Battaglia 0-1-1-0. Hampshire: Vincent 14-29-1-159, Corcelles 0-2-0-0.

RECEIVING–Cary-Grove: Rivera 2-75, Magel 1-25. Hampshire: Hornbeck 5-114, Fleury 4-18, Starrenburg 1-16, Burke 3-8, Tuzak 1-3.

TOTAL YARDS: Cary-Grove 412, Hampshire 201.

AND ANOTHER THING...

There was a scary moment just before halftime when Hampshire junior RB/DB Trevone Woods was taken to the hospital in an ambulance following a hit to his esophagus. He remained motionless for several minutes, but is in stable condition and alert at an area hospital, according to Whip-Purs coach Mike Brasile.