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HAMPSHIRE – For the Huntley Red Raiders, Friday’s game plan was simple. Limit the Hampshire combination of quarterback Jake Vincent and wide receiver Jared Hornbeck, and the Red Raiders had a pretty good chance of picking up an important conference road win. Mission Accomplished.
Behind a stellar defensive effort in which they forced four Hampshire turnovers and limited the Whip-Purs to just one scoring drive, Huntley came away with a 49-7 Fox Valley Conference victory at Hampshire High School.
Huntley (3-1, 3-1 FVC) started the game with a heavy dose on the ground, alternating carries between quarterback Eric Mooney and running back Carter Beaudette. It was Beaudette who put Huntley up with his first of two touchdowns midway through the opening quarter.
“We started to see some holes in their defense and we really wanted to take advantage of that,” Huntley coach Matt Zimolak said.
As was the theme all game for Huntley, the Red Raiders were able to strike quick with big plays. Just one play after Beaudette’s touchdown, the defense doubled the lead thanks to an interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Charlie Zornow. Huntley also had three touchdown drives later in the game that were two plays or less to really pull away.
Mooney was able to get free for three long touchdowns on three consecutive carries to really put the game out of reach. He finished with 181 yards on 11 carries.
“I feel like our offensive line is really starting to get it,” Mooney said. “They opened up some huge holes and on a few of my runs I wasn’t even touched. We really wanted to come out tonight and play some smash mouth football and really keep it simple. We were able to do that which resulted in some big plays.”
For Huntley coach Matt Zimolak, he was happy to see his signal caller take control Friday.
“[Eric] Mooney has such good vision out there and does a great job making the reads, but sometimes is hesitant to keep it himself,” Zimolak said. “Tonight he had a lot of confidence and made the right reads and played a really good game.”
The Huntley defense played well against what can be a very prolific Hampshire (2-2, 1-2) offense. The Red Raiders finished with four interceptions, two sacks, and limited Hampshire to just 46 yards rushing and 220 total yards on offense.
“The turnovers really hurt us tonight,” Hampshire coach Mike Brasile said. “We started to believe in ourselves with that score right before halftime but then they were able to answer just a few plays later and that really hurt us. Huntley is a good team with great athletes. Hats off to them.”
Standout Stats
Unsung Hero
Charlie Zornow
Huntley, junior, linebacker
Just eight seconds after Huntley scored its first touchdown, Zornow returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown to put Huntley up 14-0.
Quick Stats
Huntley 14 14 21 0- 49
Hampshire 0 7 0 0 - 7
First Quarter
Hunt-Beaudette 5 run (Zion kick), 5:17
Hunt- Zornow 29 yard interception return (Zion kick), 5:08
Second Quarter
Hunt-Beaudette 1 run (Zion kick), 8:03
Hamp-Starrenburg 32 yards from Vincent (Paulauskas kick), 1:23
Hunt-Mooney 38 run (Zion kick), 0:54
Third Quarter
Hunt-Mooney 65 run (Zion kick), 9:47
Hunt-Mooney 41 run (Zion kick), 7:55
Hunt- Aninagyei-Bonsu 3 run (Zion kick), 3:33
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING- Huntley: Mooney 11-181, Beaudette 20-80, Aninagyei-Bonsu 8-87, Knipp 3-11. Totals 42-359. Hampshire: Tuzak 16-51, Vincent 6- -5, Fleury 1-2, Woods 2- -2 . Totals 25-46.
PASSING-Huntley: Mooney 7-10-1-68, Knipp 1-1-0-5. Huntley: Vincent 19-32-4-174, Corcelles 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING-Huntley:Coss 3-44, O’Mara 2-12, Rodgers 1-7, Gelander 1-5, Horan 1-5 . Hampshire: Fleury 7-69, Hornbeck 6-50, Starrenberg 5-55, Tuzak 1-0 .
TOTAL TEAM YARDS: Huntley 432, Hampshire 220.
And Another Thing...
Hampshire’s Trevone Woods returned to game action Friday just a week after leaving the Whip-Pur’s game against Cary-Grove in the second quarter via ambulance with what they thought at the time might be a collapsed trachea. “Trevone did everything it took to get back on the field this week. He is such a great kid and we were happy to see him back out there today.” -Hampshire coach Mike Brasile.