Prairie Ridge gets back on track with win over Crystal Lake Central

CRYSTAL LAKE – Prairie Ridge football got back to playing Prairie Ridge football Friday night.

And while it may be too soon to say the short-handed Wolves are back to being the team that allowed only 33 points in winning their first four games this season before a loss to undefeated Cary-Grove, they got contributions from all three phases in their 34-6 win over Crystal Lake Central in a Fox Valley Conference game.

Prairie Ridge gave up 52 points in a loss to Burlington Central the previous week. That was the most points the Wolves had allowed since losing to East St. Louis 57-7 in the Class 6A state championship game in 2022.

“That definitely wasn’t us [against Burlington Central],” Wolves senior nose tackle Walter Pollack said after recording two sacks. “This whole week we’ve been ready to go. We’ve had a sour taste in our mouth. We stepped on the field and you could tell the energy was definitely different.”

Friday’s win clinched a playoff berth for Prairie Ridge (6-2, 6-2), which had lost two of its past three games. The Wolves beat Dundee-Crown, which had one win at the time, by only 15 points two weeks ago.

“The last two weeks we haven’t played our brand of football, but I feel we’re finally picking it up again,” said Prairie Ridge junior cornerback Colin Witowski, whose pick six in the fourth quarter helped finish off the hosts. “We’re getting back to what PR really is as a football team.”

Prairie Ridge played its third game in a row without quarterback Luke Vanderwiel and fullback Jack Finn, two starters who are out with injuries.

Logan Thennes, who starts at safety, gave Prairie Ridge a lift as a kick returner with the Wolves’ offense managing just 237 yards, including 172 on the ground, against Crystal Lake Central (2-6, 2-6). Thennes returned the game’s opening kickoff 49 yards, which resulted in Gabriel Porter’s 25-yard field goal 12 plays later. Thennes had a 53-yard punt return later in the first quarter. That led to another Porter field goal, from 21 yards out, for a 6-0 Wolves lead early in the second quarter.

Thennes had a 39-yard kickoff return after Central scored its only touchdown, an 8-yard keeper by Brett Kramer with 6:30 left in the third to pull the Tigers within 20-6.

“It was huge,” Prairie Ridge coach Mike Frericks said of his team’s special teams play, which included Porter’s two field goals and four PAT kicks. “Big night for [Thennes], our blocking and our special teams overall. Very happy with how we showed up today.”

Giovanni Creatore’s 3-yard touchdown run late in the opening half extended the Wolves’ lead to 13-0 with 1:52 left. Then after Ben Gablenz intercepted Kramer, Nick Petty scored from nine yards out five plays later for a 20-0 advantage at halftime.

Kramer’s TD run and a fumble recovery by defensive back Kiran Pokharel gave Central life in the second half. But Witowski’s 80-yard interception return for a TD, after the receiver juggled the ball, hiked the Wolves’ lead to 27-6 with 6:37 left in the fourth.

“He was running up and kind of ran a curl [route), so I stayed home,” Witowski, a 5-foot-7, 160-pound junior cornerback, said after notching his first interception of the season. “He kind of bobbled it in his hands, and I was right at the perfect spot. I caught it, brought it to the crib.”

Central coach Dirk Stanger credited his defense after the game.

“Our defense again, just game in and game out, has been playing their butts off,” Stanger said. “I appreciate the effort they gave. We just got to be more efficient on offense, special teams as well.”

Prairie Ridge got a 48-yard TD run from Jake Wagler (team-high 80 rushing yards) late in the fourth to finish the scoring. Nicholas Schons also had an interception for the Wolves.

Central’s Carter Kelley, playing his first season as a running back, rushed 15 times for 44 yards and caught three passes for 23 yards. He and his fellow seniors played the final home game of their careers.

“Time flies,” Kelley said. “It feels like I was a freshman 10 days ago. Summer camp, going to the weight room. It was like, ‘What is this?’ I was a scrawny kid. You just got to live it up. We got one week left. [Saturday] is the last day of film, which is special. It really is. Get back to school [Monday], get to work and try to win our last game [at Hampshire] to end on a high note.”

https://www.shawlocal.com/friday-night-drive/2024/10/19/prairie-ridge-gets-back-on-track-with-win-over-crystal-lake-central/