McHenry blanks Crystal Lake South on homecoming

McHENRY— After a sluggish, scoreless first half against Crystal Lake South, McHenry was looking for anything to jumpstart its offense.

The Warriors had gained just 86 total yards in the game’s first 28-plus minutes, as they began their first possession of the third quarter.

That’s when senior running back Jacob Jones broke the ice in a huge way.

Jones (104 yards, eight carries) took a handoff, then sprinted to the right side of his offensive line at his own 21-yard line, but couldn’t believe his eyes.

“There was so much daylight there,” Jones said. “It honestly took me by surprise.”

His ensuing 75-yard run was the biggest gain of the night by either team. It set the Warriors up with first-and-goal at South’s 4-yard line.

It was the turning point in McHenry’s 19-0 Fox Valley Conference homecoming victory Friday night.

Four plays later, Warriors junior quarterback Dayton Warren pounded the ball into the end zone for a touchdown – after a timeout by McHenry coach Jeff Schroeder, with a gutsy fourth-and-goal call from the 1.

It was all the offense McHenry (2-5 overall, 2-5 FVC) wound up needing, though they would add more later.

“A win like this means everything to these kids,” Schroeder said. “Especially for homecoming in front of all their friends and families.

“We keep preaching certain things to our players, and sometimes when that doesn’t produce results, it can get frustrating. But to their credit, our players have trusted the process, and tonight, they saw what the result of all their hard work looks like. I’m proud of them for sticking with it.”

The Warriors’ good fortune continued moments later thanks to a second gutsy coaching decision.

Schroeder and his staff elected to try an onside kick after scoring their first TD, and it was successful.

It set McHenry up near midfield with the football, and it seemed to have a deflating effect on the Gators (2-5, 2-5 FVC).

“Tim Beagle, my defensive coordinator, brought the onside kick idea up,” Schroeder said. “South’s special teams has had some big returns this year, so we felt the risk wasn’t really as big as it may have seemed at the time.”

He was right. After recovering the onside kick, McHenry played the field position game, then found themselves deep in South territory to open the fourth quarter.

Mick Reidy (23 carries, 112 yards) scored on the first play of the final quarter and added another 43-yard TD run with 1:29 remaining, for insurance, to ice the game.

Defensively, McHenry held South to just 122 net yards of offense (78 passing, 44 rushing). They also tallied four sacks, including a pair by junior James Butler, and one from junior linebacker Jeff Schwab.

Nolan Chovanec, another McHenry junior, added a second-half interception that busted a potential Gators rally.

South coach Rob Fontana remained optimistic despite the loss.

He got an interception from senior safety Jon Miller, and his defense limited McHenry to just three double-digit yardage gains in 52 combined plays.

“McHenry won the battle at the line of scrimmage tonight,” Fontana said. “That was the difference. But we’re always learning lessons and growing, whether we win or lose.

“We challenge our kids every game. And we make sure they understand the importance of hard work, coming in six days a week, and continuing to learn and grow from adversity.”