McHenry County notes: Kishwaukee River, Fox Valley Conference races already getting interesting

Johnsburg’s 21-14 victory against Richmond-Burton on Friday in the teams’ Kishwaukee River Conference opener was the Skyhawks’ first win in the series since 2017.

In last year’s rivalry matchup, the Rockets ran away from the Skyhawks 48-0.

Woodstock North, a team that won only three games combined from 2021 to 2023, already has matched that total through three weeks, while outscoring opponents 152-43. On Friday, the Thunder scored 20 straight points to come back and beat Marengo.

Woodstock topped a surprise two-win Harvard team 10-7 in their KRC opener in Week 3, while Sandwich ran away from Plano 41-6.

Although early, this year’s KRC race already feels a little out of the ordinary and could be one that has a surprise winner at the end.

Richmond-Burton, which entered Week 3 as the No. 10 team in the Associated Press Class 4A poll, finished runner-up to Rochelle in the KRC/I-8 Blue Division a year ago, which was the first time the Rockets didn’t take first in conference since 2018.

Johnsburg feels that it has as good of a shot as anybody after Friday’s win over R-B.

“I tell our guys all the time the expectation is to go out there and win conference,” Skyhawks coach Sam Lesniak said. “We knew we were going to be in a big-time dog fight. Going into a big game, we’re not going to lay down against anybody.

“These guys felt like it was different this year with the guys that we have.”

Key FVC games coming up: Jacobs earned a big win against Huntley on Friday, outlasting the Red Raiders 26-15 to jump back into the FVC race. The Golden Eagles, after a Week 1 loss to Prairie Ridge 17-0, now are one of three teams with one loss in the conference, along with Huntley and Burlington Central.

It was the first loss of the season for Huntley, which now trails Prairie Ridge and Cary-Grove – both 3-0 – in the FVC race.

Jacobs has another key FVC game this week at Cary-Grove (ranked No. 1 in Class 6A), while Prairie Ridge (No. 3 in 5A) travels to Huntley. The following week, Cary-Grove and Prairie Ridge match up in a game that could determine the ultimate conference winner.

“We knew what this game would’ve cost if we would’ve lost, and we couldn’t live with that,” Jacobs defensive end PJ Barnes said after Friday’s win against Huntley. “We had to do our jobs. The last two weeks that was a lesser version of us. We had to show them after losing two years in a row, this is Jacobs football.”

That winning feeling: After a Week 1 loss to Rochelle 39-20, Woodstock has won two games in a row heading into its Week 4 KRC game against Marengo.

The Blue Streaks beat Rensselaer Central (Ind.) 29-7 in Week 2 and last week held on for a 10-7 win over Harvard in their KRC opener.

Woodstock lost to Marengo last year 23-21 in a game that coach Mike Brasile felt the Blue Streaks let slip away late. In that game, Marengo converted three fourth-down opportunities in the second half, had two fumble recoveries and an interception.

Brasile knows Marengo, losers of two in a row including a 20-14 loss to Woodstock North on Friday, won’t be an easy matchup.

“You string two [wins] together, you start to building some confidence, and that’s important going into Marengo,” Brasile said. “We feel like we can go there and give them a game, but they have a really good team and we will need to put in a lot of hard work.”

Marian Central gets win No. 1: After an 0-2 start to the season, Marian Central beat Bishop McNamara 14-6 in their Chicagoland Christian Conference opener Saturday afternoon. The Hurricanes lost to Richmond-Burton 21-7 in Week 1 and DePaul College Prep 35-7 in Week 2.

Marian coach Liam Kirwan said the team believes it can compete for a conference title. The Hurricanes travel to Chicago Christian for a CCC game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“That trip to Palos Heights next week is going to be a long one, but my message after this one is to enjoy this win,” Kirwan said. “We’ve got a 1-0 mentality. At the end of the day, one of our goals is to win a conference title, and this one helps us get us closer to our goal.”

The Hurricanes have dealt with early-season injuries that have tested the team’s depth.

“[Senior lineman] Rob Hernon is battling, he’s got a club on his hand,” Kirwan said. “Vance Williams [a two-time state runner-up in wrestling], who hasn’t played football since eighth grade, he’s jumping in for us. I really see this team as a whole unit. No selfish play.”

Cooke improves as passer: Harvard coach Brad Swanson has seen significant improvement in senior quarterback Adam Cooke as a passer early on. Cooke didn’t start playing football until last year. He started at receiver and was moved to the team’s starting quarterback by Week 2.

Cooke’s athleticism [he also plays baseball and basketball] has started to show on the football field.

“His improvement has been leaps and bounds,” Swanson said. “He’s throwing the ball on the run, he looks good in the pocket. He threw some balls in practice last week where we said, ‘That’s the best ball you’ve thrown in two years,’ and he just keeps improving. Things are coming together.”

Harvard ended a 20-game losing streak with wins over Lisle and Reed-Custer in Weeks 1 and 2.