Cary-Grove defensive lineman Jake Cody’s season worth smiling about

CARY – Sticky bangs from helmet hair draped across his forehead and eye black smeared across his jawline couldn’t mask Jake Cody’s smile.

As the Cary-Grove football team lined up three rows deep for a photo after its 42-7 win over Belvidere North in a Class 6A state quarterfinal Saturday, Cody stood tall in the back row. His smile stretched from sideline to sideline.

The senior had just notched two sacks and another tackle for loss to lead the defense, which has had the Trojans smiling all season. Cody was a rotational player on the defensive line last season, helping C-G win the Class 6A state championship. This season, the nose guard has started every game for a 12-0 team that visits 11-1 Geneva at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The winner advances to the title game Nov. 30 at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium in Normal.

“It’s been great [this season],” said the 6-foot-1, 217-pound Cody, soaking up every last moment after the final home game of his high school football career. “I’m just so happy. I’m so thankful. I love my guys, I love my teammates, I love my coaches, I love this school, and I love the culture of us. And I’m just so happy to finally be a starter and be able to represent the school well.”

Belvidere North wasn’t smiling Saturday.

Cody got his first sack, an 8-yard loss, midway through the first quarter on third-and-11 from the Blue Thunder 45. After the punt, C-G needed only seven plays to extend its lead to 14-0, as Peyton Seaburg hit Landon Barnett for a 10-yard score. That turned out to be the winning TD.

Cody’s second sack, late in the first half, resulted in another 8-yard loss. He also tackled a Blue Thunder runner behind the line of scrimmage early in the third quarter.

“It was just being able to recognize what they were doing and then going after it,” Cody said. “Our coaches trained us very well on what they were going to do. They did a dive-and-roll sort of block [on the first sack], and they trained us how to get out of that. Immediately, once I saw that, I was able to get out of it and go.

“And then the other [plays], I was just able to rip off.”

Cary-Grove coach Brad Seaburg could only smile when asked about Cody, who can get overlooked on a defense featuring all-state players Charlie Ciske and Ty Drayton.

“He’s had a great year for us,” Brad Seaburg said of Cody. “He’s a four-year program guy [who] came in pretty raw. He followed the system and turned himself into a really good player.”

The Trojans were leading Belvidere North 28-0 late in the first half when, after Peyton Seaburg’s second TD, Blue Thunder running back Ben Bucher broke off an 80-yard scoring run down the right sideline. Cody wasn’t on the field for the rare mistake by C-G’s defense.

It’s a unit that’s been as consistent as Cody this season. The Trojans have held eight opponents to single-digit points.

“That was just minor mistakes that we got fixed immediately,” Cody said. “It was all good from there.”

And a second-half shutout was an appropriate way for the Trojans to cap their final game at Al Bohrer Field. They went 7-0 at home.

“This is a great win,” Cody said. “This is the last time I’m ever going to play [at] Al Bohrer. I love this place. This is sacred ground. I’m just so happy to play here. I’m so happy to play for Cary-Grove. I’m just really thankful. This is a great game to end on.”

Two more wins, great or otherwise, and C-G will have its second state title in a row. That would be great.

“It’s fun playing in November,” Brad Seaburg said. “It’s fun winning.”