McHenry County notes: Woodstock North puts up big rushing numbers, matches last year’s win total

Woodstock North hasn’t enjoyed much winning in recent years.

So the Thunder, who were 2-7 last year and won only three games from 2021 to 2023, aren’t taking their 2-0 start for granted.

North, for the second week in a row, ran over its opponent and flirted with 500 rushing yards in a 63-7 win over Chicago Prosser on Friday night. The Thunder enter their Kishwaukee River Conference game against Marengo in Week 3 with almost 1,000 rushing yards already.

[ Week 2 results for 2024, recaps for every game in the Northwest Herald area ]

“Wins build the confidence, so we love that,” Thunder third-year coach Matt Polnow said. “The kids feel good, but we do realize that next week is going to be a big test. I think everyone knows it is going to be a lot tougher from here.

“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Against Prosser, it was junior quarterback Parker Halihan who enjoyed the biggest day on the ground with 125 yards and three scores. He leads North with 312 yards on 15 attempts (20.8 average), also running for a team-high 187 yards and one score in a 69-22 win over Elmwood Park in Week 1.

As a team, the Thunder have piled up 961 yards on the ground. Senior RB Max Dennison has 216 yards and five TDs, and junior David Randecker has 179 yards and three scores. North’s 16 rushing TDs haven’t been cheapies, either, with an average of just over 30 yards on its run-scoring plays.

Sophomore running back Sean Mitchell had two rushing scores, including a 69-yarder, along with a kickoff return for a touchdown.

The Thunder run a flexbone offense similar to Cary-Grove’s, and Polnow said the jump from last year to this year has been significant, given the amount of players returning.

“This is technically the second year that we’re running the exact same verbage with our play calls,” said Polnow, a 2000 Woodstock grad. “I learned from [former North head coach Jeff Schroeder] and Prairie Ridge and Cary-Grove. Those are basically the mentors of the system.

“We’re just executing at a high level right now.”

Polnow feels fortunate to have so many playmakers at his disposal. The team has yet to attempt a pass in the first two games.

It hasn’t had to.

“We have four guys who can really make plays happen at any time,” Polnow said. “And I would say even more than that given the talent we have at our skill positions.”

Jacobs showcases RB depth: Jacobs fullback Caden DuMelle left with an injury in the second quarter of Friday’s 28-21 FVC win over Hampshire after getting his ankle stepped on, but the junior was back on the field in the second half for the Golden Eagles (1-1, 1-1 FVC).

DuMelle scored a 61-yard touchdown on Jacobs’ fourth play from scrimmage and finished with a game-high 127 yards on 15 carries.

The Eagles displayed their depth at running back in the victory, with junior Mike Cannady breaking free for a 54-yard TD that sealed Jacobs’ first win. Senior Matthew Scardina also scored a touchdown while DuMelle was out of the game, and senior T.O. Boddie scored on 90-yard kickoff return.

Scardina also had an impactful game on defense at linebacker with seven tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Eagles, who host Huntley in Week 3 and are on the road at Cary-Grove in Week 4.

“With the depth that we have, they all have capabilities of doing special things,” Jacobs coach Brian Zimmerman said. “I told them that they all will get a chance to touch the ball. We have to keep plugging away, and something is going to pop.

“They got a taste of that tonight, and we need that to continue the next couple of weeks.”

Wolves’ defense shines again: Defensively, Prairie Ridge’s secondary allowed less than a yard per pass attempt (10 yards on 11 passes) against Crystal Lake South during Friday’s 49-0 win, routinely swarming to screens and short passes. The Wolves’ defense held strong on a fourth-and-goal from its own 9-yard line with 5:30 left in the third quarter and has yet to allow any points through two games.

Prairie Ridge (2-0, 2-0) had five tackles for loss, with three being sacks, against South. Last year, the Wolves allowed an FVC-best 11.6 points a game.

“We want our defense to be aggressive all the time,” first-year Wolves coach Mike Frericks said. “That is part of our identity, putting pressure on the opposing team’s quarterback and hopefully forcing them to make mistakes we can capitalize on.”

Prairie Ridge’s backfield looks dangerous: The Wolves had a pair of players eclipse the century mark on the ground with fullback Jack Finn (163 yards) and quarterback Luke Vanderwiel (106) each scoring three TDs in a Week 2 win against South.

They also got 52 rushing yards from sophomore Jake Wagler, who has shown big-play ability through the first two games.

A fourth option for the Wolves’ triple-option has emerged, as well.

Wide receiver and tight end Elijah Loeding, a junior, had only two touches in the Week 2 win, but they accounted for 20.5% of Prairie Ridge’s 414-yard output. Loeding had one carry for 42 yards and one reception for 43 yards.

Tigers learning on the fly: Crystal Lake Central coach Dirk Stanger estimates his team lost more than 90% of its offensive production last season because of graduation, with QB Jason Penza (now at Lafayette) and WR George Dimopoulos (NIU) making up a big portion of that.

Wide receivers Carter Kelley and Ben Freese are the only two returners who caught a pass last season, Stanger said, while their running back room is relatively new. Junior Aidan Niederkorn stepped in at quarterback at the end of Week 1′s loss against Huntley and led a scoring drive. On Friday, he completed 22 of 36 passes for 179 yards and had two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing) in a 45-14 loss to Cary-Grove.

It’s been a tough few weeks for the Tigers (0-2, 0-2), being outscored 80-21, but Stanger is hoping he will see more progress starting in Week 3 against Dundee-Crown.

“We’re very young,” Stanger said after Friday’s loss to C-G. “It’s just a matter of looking at the film and learning from it. Between Weeks 2 and Week 3 is when you want to see some of that progress and development. We’ve had some tough lessons to learn these first two weeks.”

Week 2 scoreboard

Cary-Grove 45, Crystal Lake Central 14

Prairie Ridge 49, Crystal Lake South 0

Jacobs 28, Hampshire 21

Burlington Central 24, Dundee-Crown 22

Huntley 44, McHenry 0

Harvard 21, Reed-Custer 14

Woodstock North 63, Chicago Prosser 7

Quincy Notre Dame 22, Richmond-Burton 10

Mundelein 21, Johnsburg 14

Peotone 42, Marengo 13

Woodstock 29, Rensselaer Central (Ind.) 7

DePaul College Prep 35, Marian Central 7

Milledgeville 70, Alden-Hebron 20

• Shaw Local correspondents Tim Froehlig and Thom Gippert contributed to this report.