Prairie Ridge dominates regular-season finale against McHenry, feels good heading into playoffs

CRYSTAL LAKE – Prairie Ridge junior Eli Loeding took the reverse handoff, saw one McHenry defender standing in his way and not much else.

Loeding already made one athletic play on a one-handed, 23-yard touchdown catch from sophomore quarterback Owen Satterlee on the Wolves’ opening possession.

This time, on the run, Loeding shed a would-be-tackle by the Warriors on his way to a 38-yard touchdown and a 21-point lead. Sophomore Jake Wagler ran in three of his game-high four touchdowns in the second half, and Prairie Ridge ran away with a 41-6 Fox Valley Conference victory.

“It’s all a grind and it’s fun to play with your brothers and overcome struggles throughout the season,” said Loeding, who finished with 100 yards on three catches. “We have a strong core, and no matter if one person goes down, we have more players to bring us up. Everybody on the team can get it done.”

Despite missing starting quarterback Luke Vanderwiel and fullback Jack Finn for the fourth week in a row because of injuries, the Wolves (7-2, 7-2 FVC) had little trouble moving the ball on offense against the Warriors (2-7, 2-7).

Prairie Ridge had 215 yards to only 47 for McHenry in the first half as the Wolves took a 21-0 lead into the break.

“We just wanted to continue doing what we’ve been doing, continue to protect the football and play Prairie Ridge defense,” Wolves coach Mike Frericks said. “For the most part, we did that. We had two turnovers I would have liked to not have, but defensively we came out and showed that we’re ready to go for this playoff push.”

Satterlee, making his third straight start, was 3-of-5 passing for 100 yards – all on catches from Loeding.

Satterlee said he had some nerves about taking over at QB for the injured Vanderwiel, but his team helped him overcome it.

“You have to take it head on,” Satterlee said. “The team is depending on you, and you just have to execute for them. Especially for those seniors tonight. I’m really proud of the way we played as a team, and I’m really proud to represent the seniors.”

Frericks said Satterlee has done a good job taking over.

“He’s done a good job, he’s obviously had ups and downs,” Frericks said. “His turnovers are really the only thing that gets him. But other than that, he’s got great command of the offense, he’s a confident kid. He adds a different throwing element to what we have. We certainly lose some on the run game, but he really does run our offense well. And he runs hard, he’s a load when he runs. It’s a different element than Luke, and that’s what’s nice about it.”

Wagler finished with a game-high 108 yards on 17 carries with TD runs of 2, 35, 2 and 9 yards. Satterlee added 37 rushing yards, Nick Petty had 23 yards and Jesse Kautz had 19 yards.

McHenry was led by sophomore Mick Reidy with 50 yards on nine carries. Quarterback Dayton Warren added 24 yards on the ground and Conner McLean scored a 6-yard TD in the fourth quarter.

Prairie Ridge awaits to see who it will play in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs, which will be announced Saturday. Friday’s win was the third time in four weeks that the Wolves defense allowed six or less points.

“I think we’re capable of anything,” Satterlee said. “I feel like we can go very far. I have all the confidence in this team. We’ve all worked super hard and put everything out there.”