High school football: Cary-Grove celebrates state championship

Cary-Grove suffered an excruciating finish to its 2017 football season when Prairie Ridge quarterback Samson Evans raced 66 yards to score with seven seconds remaining in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.

Evans’ wild dash saved the Wolves’ hopes for back-to-back state championships with a 17-13 victory, a job they finished three weeks later in DeKalb.

The shock and disappointment for C-G was massive.

But the Trojans could not change the past, they only could look ahead.

“My message to the next group was learn from that game,” C-G coach Brad Seaburg said. “Our kids have shown such grit and mental toughness. That’s the only thing I could take out of that game to possibly be positive. Use that to make our program better.”

The Trojans have not lost since.

On Sunday afternoon, C-G administrators, coaches, players, parents, students and fans gathered at the school’s Elroy Fitzgerald Gymnasium to celebrate the Trojans’ second state football championship in school history.

C-G defeated Crete-Monee, 35-13, on Saturday in Champaign for the Class 6A state championship. It was a devastating performance, as the Trojans’ offense held the ball for almost three quarters of the game, while the defense consistently delivered timely stops.

The Warriors, who adeptly rallied for wins in their three previous playoff games, never were given that opportunity by C-G. Crete-Monee could have Prairie Ridge, in part, to thank for that.

“We learned you can never relax,” running back Zach Perrone said. “You have to play to the final whistle every single time. We didn’t let off the gas until that final whistle. We really tossed in a lot of grit and hard work. It made us try our hardest.”

Fullback Blake Skol said that was true in offseason workouts as well as games.

“We learned you can never, ever give up,” Skol said. “You always have to push the extra mile. When we finished our runs, we finish the extra couple yards, because we were a yard away from tackling Samson. We were a yard away from winning that game.”

Players and coaches, and some fans, wore white T-shirts with the team’s motto, “Today’s the Day,” in navy letters. Members of the C-G band played the school’s fight song as the Trojans entered the gym.

C-G Principal Neil Lesinski congratulated the coaches and players on their accomplishment. The 2009 team was C-G’s only previous state champion and unbeaten team. That team was one the current players looked to as their heroes.

“You are now the role models for future teams,” Lesinski said. “You represent the core value of this community.”

Trout Valley Village President Bob Baker, Fox River Grove Village President Robert Nunamaker and Cary Mayor Mark Kownick each spoke, then C-G athletic director Jim Altendorf took his turn.

“This journey has been awesome,” Altendorf said. “I’m very proud of what they’ve accomplished. The title’s great, the trophy’s great, the medals are great, but I’m most proud of how you went about it.”

Finally, it was Seaburg’s turn. When Bruce Kay retired after the 2010-11 school year, Seaburg took over the program. Initially, he did not want to follow Kay, who had turned the Trojans into a state power.

At the urging of his wife, Dorothy, Seaburg took the job. C-G has been to three state championship games in Seaburg’s eight seasons.

“Everything always comes back to our kids,” Seaburg said. “There’s so many guys who make it work, who accept their roles, who put the team ahead of their own individual interests.”

One of those players was Quinn Priester, who started at quarterback last season but switched to wide receiver and defensive back. His summer baseball commitments took him away from many of the football workouts, so Ben McDonald took over. Priester, who is signed to pitch at TCU, still was determined to play football and had the blessing of TCU’s coaches. He thrived in his new role.

“I thought of how sad I would have been if I had made that decision not to play,” said Priester, who had a touchdown catch Saturday. “It would have made sense, but I don’t think I would have forgiven myself for that. We set a goal for ourselves, and to finally achieve it is really rewarding.”

The coaches showed the players a clip from “Free Solo,” a film about climber Alex Honnold, the only person to ever scale El Capitan, a 3,000-foot cliff in Yosemite National Park, without a rope. The Trojans saw part of the movie before their final regular-season game against Naperville Central. They beat Central, a strong Class 8A team, 55-41, then went on their historic playoff run.

“We got closer on Saturday morning,” Seaburg said. “You could see the top of the mountain. When the game was over, we made the top. It was beyond words.”