High school football: Prairie Ridge flies by McHenry in second half

CRYSTAL LAKE – McHenry senior running back Braden Crowley broke loose for a pair of 23-yard runs near the end of the first half against Prairie Ridge, the second of which went for a score to give the Warriors some much-needed momentum.

In Prairie Ridge's locker room, the Wolves regrouped.

"We've got a young team, and I think we're still learning how to compete," Wolves coach Chris Schremp said. "We challenged them to go out there and win some more individual battles. I think they needed a little kick in the butt."

Down by seven points, McHenry sustained a 10-play drive to start the second half and drove all the way to Prairie Ridge's 27-yard line, but Wolves senior linebacker Jared Lindquist stopped the Warriors there, intercepting quarterback Chris Zieba.

"I read pass, saw the quarterback turn to me and I just went up and grabbed [the ball]," said Lindquist, who dived to the ground to make the play. "We were struggling a bit, but that gave us momentum the rest of the game."

The Wolves needed only four plays on their next drive to gain back control, getting a 52-yard burst from senior Ethan Kirchberg and a 25-yard touchdown run from Connor Lydon.

It was the start of a big second half for the Wolves, who scored 35 unanswered points en route to a 63-21 Fox Valley Conference victory Friday.

Lydon accounted for four touchdowns for the Wolves (4-1, 4-1), finishing with 152 total yards. He hit Keegan Garis for a 25-yard touchdown and Blake Brown for a 39-yarder. He added a pair of touchdowns on the ground, also scoring from 9 yards out.

Senior running back Jackson Willis, coming off an FVC-record 397 yards last week against Dundee-Crown, rushed for a game-high 191 yards and three touchdowns, scoring from 16, 37 and 57 yards out.

His last touchdown with 1:01 remaining gave Prairie Ridge its fifth score of the second half.

"We didn't come out with that much intensity," Lydon said. "We went in at half, took a deep breath ... and came out ready to play. That was huge. [Lindquist's interception] was probably the biggest turning point in the game."

Dekota Fallaw sacked Lydon on the last play before halftime for McHenry (0-5, 0-4), and the Warriors raced off the field to loud cheers from their fans. But after Lindquist's interception, little continued to go right for McHenry, which managed only 96 yards in the second half.

"We had nothing to lose," McHenry coach Jon Niemic said. "All the pressure was on them. I told our guys, 'I don't want to see any down faces. I want to see you all smiling,' and I think they took that to heart in the first half. ... But we need to learn how to be a better second-half team. I need to learn how to be a better second-half coach."

Crowley finished with 116 yards rushing to lead McHenry, also scoring on an 86-yard kickoff return to tie the game at 14 with 9:54 left in the second quarter. The big play came after Lydon's 9-yard score.

Lydon hit Garis for his first touchdown through the air, and, on McHenry's next chance, Matt Loucks blocked a punt deep in Warriors' territory, and Carter Evans jumped on the ball in the end zone to give the Wolves a 28-14 lead with 4:18 before half.

For McHenry, Zieba finished 16 of 21 for 123 yards. Sean Richards had eight catches for 62 yards, and Luke Peacock added a 1-yard rushing score. Kirchberg had 116 yards for the Wolves.

STAR OF THE GAME

Connor Lydon, Prairie Ridge, jr., QB

Lydon ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more, finishing with 152 total yards and leading the Wolves to scores on all five possessions in the second half.

Prairie Ridge 63, McHenry 21

McHenry 7 14 0 0 – 21

Prairie Ridge 7 21 14 21 – 63

First quarter

PR-Willis 16 run (Reitz kick), 10:45

M-Peacock 1 run (Turnage kick), 1:46

Second quarter

PR-Lydon 9 run (Reitz kick), 10:07

M-Crowley 86 kick return (Turnage kick), 9:54

PR-Garis 25 pass from Lydon (Reitz kick), 6:17

PR-C. Evans fumble recovery (Reitz kick), 4:18

M-Crowley 23 run (Turnage kick), 0:45.7

Third quarter

PR-Lydon 25 run (Reitz kick), 4:13

PR-Brown 10 run (Reitz kick), 0:24.7

Fourth quarter

PR-Brown 39 pass from Lydon (Reitz kick), 9:20

PR-Willis 37 run (Reitz kick), 6:39

PR-Willis 57 run (Reitz kick), 1:01

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–McHenry: Crowley 19-116, Peacock 11-27, Hallaert 1-3, Zieba 3-minus 10. Totals: 34-136. Prairie Ridge: Willis 14-191, Brown 2-28, E. Kirchberg 9-116, Lydon 12-64. Totals: 37-399.

PASSING–McHenry: Zieba 16-21-1-123. Prairie Ridge: Lydon 5-7-0-88.

RECEIVING–McHenry: Richards 8-62, Monzon 3-33, Scheri 3-28, Peacock 1-minus 6, Angeles 1-6. Prairie Ridge: Garis 1-25, Brown 2-46, C. Evans 2-17.

TOTAL YARDS: McHenry 259, Prairie Ridge 487