McHenry County notes: Harvard ends 20-game losing streak with huge offensive performance

Harvard entered the season winless in its past 20 games.

The Hornets came close last year to ending their long losing streak in Week 9, but fell short 32-28 against Johnsburg.

Harvard, led by second-year QB Adam Cooke, was on a mission in its season opener Friday against Lisle.

After giving up the game’s first touchdown, the Hornets scored 42 unanswered points en route to a 42-7 victory – the program’s first win since beating Sandwich 29-24 on Oct. 8, 2021.

The team celebrated by dumping Gatorade on coach Brad Swanson and took a team photo after the win. Cooke said the bus ride home was “really fun and loud.”

“Everyone was fired up after a long time of not winning,” said Cooke, who scored four TDs (three rushing, one passing). “All the early mornings and late nights, to see it pay off brought lots of joy to the team. You could see it in our coaches’ eyes, just how proud they were of everyone.”

One of Harvard’s goals this year was to win a game after going 0-9 the past two seasons. The team also has a goal of not losing back-to-back games. In last season’s opener against Lisle, the Hornets were not competitive in a 28-7 loss.

Swanson, in his second year, said the Hornets have focused on not turning the ball over and winning third downs. They are led by four seniors: Cooke, WRs Daniel Rosas and Christian Mercado and LB Kevin Salas.

Cooke, who plays basketball and baseball for the Hornets, had not played organized football until last fall. He started at receiver and was the team’s QB by Week 2.

“I showed up last year, he showed up, and he said he wanted to try out,” Swanson said. “We have high hopes for Adam. He’s put in a ton of work this offseason, he’s thrown the ball a ton. We’ve kind of built our offense around him, to some of his strengths. He can run the ball and throw it on the run. He makes things happen.”

“We’ve kind of built our offense around him, to some of his strengths. He can run the ball and throw it on the run. He makes things happen.”

—  Brad Swanson, Harvard coach on QB Adam Cooke

Cooke said he decided to try football because he was bored.

“I struggled in summer camp [last year]. You’re never going to be good at something you’ve never done before,” he said. “But the challenge brought me a lot of fun and joy.”

Cooke said last year’s Week 9 loss, although it hurt, gave the team confidence going into the offseason.

“We realized what we were capable of and how much we improved over the season,” Cooke said. “It helped us go into the offseason with wanting to put in more work and wanting to get better. And this summer it really showed. We had a lot better attendance, and everybody was happy and excited to show up in the morning and go to work.”

Swanson said the Hornets started to prepare for their Week 2 opponent, Reed-Custer, right away Saturday morning.

“It’s always good to get that first win, it’s all part of the process,” he said. “The kids are starting to believe in themselves some more. We got better every week last year, and I think that carried over to the summer. The results are starting to show.”

That winning feeling: Prairie Ridge’s Mike Frericks earned his first win as a head coach at Prairie Ridge as the Wolves shut out Jacobs for the second consecutive season. The 2009 Crystal Lake South grad was on former Prairie Ridge coach Chris Schremp’s staff the past two years. Schremp coached 22 years and now is the AD at Prairie Ridge. Schremp was 187-64 in his stint, including three Class 6A state championships.

[ Luke Vanderwiel shines in 1st start at QB for Prairie Ridge in FVC win over Jacobs ]

“It feels really good,” Frericks said after Friday’s 17-0 win. “The work we put in, the kids and coaches, we wanted this one bad. We knew Jacobs was going to be a very good team. We had to be ready to go. Our guys showed up.”

Frericks and the Wolves’ staff had a decision to make pretty quickly into Friday’s game, facing a fourth-and-3 on their own 45 on the game’s opening possession. Prairie Ridge decided to go for it and was rewarded with a 55-yard touchdown run by junior Luke Vanderwiel, who was making his first start at quarterback.

“Our coaches were kind of looking at how [Jacobs was] pursuing, and it’s a play we’ve run a lot with a lot of good quarterbacks over the years,” Frericks said. “Luke followed his blockers, and his blockers got up front, the seam was there, and he was gone.

“The first [win] is always huge. It’s what we prepared for. We went 1-0 this week, and we’ve got to do the same thing next week.”

Demirov does it all: Crystal Lake South senior AJ Demirov is best known for his game-breaking moves on the basketball court, where he averaged 20.2 points a game and was named 2024 Northwest Herald Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

On the football field, Demirov is somebody coach Rob Fontana can use in a variety of ways. In the team’s season-opening loss to Dundee-Crown, Demirov played wide receiver, but also took snaps at quarterback.

On defense, he came up with a key pass deflection that likely saved a touchdown.

In a game where South struggled to find its footing on offense, Demirov provided some highlight-reel moments, including a 35-yard TD run. He finished the game with a team-high 62 yards on six carries.

“He’s a special player,” Fontana said. “Everyone knows what he can do on the basketball court, but he’s a guy that can do special things for us on the football field too, and that’s what we are going to do with him.”

Fleck makes good impression: Huntley junior wide receiver Wyatt Fleck, a Huntley native who transferred from St. Viator over the summer, had a big debut for the Red Raiders. He and quarterback Braylon Bower connected on touchdowns plays of 40 and 26 yards. Fleck finished with a game-high 102 yards on three grabs as Huntley won 35-7.

• Shaw Local correspondent Thom Gippert contributed to this report.