McHenry County notes: Crystal Lake South’s Caden Casimino, Brady Schroeder make best of QB competition

Caden Casimino and Brady Schroeder competed all summer to be Crystal Lake South’s starting quarterback.

And while only one could win the job, both players came up big in a 43-39 Fox Valley Conference win against Cary-Grove on Friday night.

Casimino, a junior, led two scoring drives in the final five minutes of the game with the Gators trailing by 11 points, getting the go-ahead touchdown on a 26-yard pass to Nate Van Witzenburg with 30.9 seconds remaining.

Earlier on the drive, it was Schroeder who stepped in at quarterback and made a key fourth-and-1 conversion with a sneak on C-G’s 31 with 1:30 left. Three players later, the Gators took the lead.

Gators coach Rob Fontana said Casimino (22-of-29 passing, 379 yards, four TDs) and Schroeder (three catches, 25 yards) have both been supportive teammates.

“Those two guys went head-to-head all summer, and Brady knows when he moves to the outside [at receiver], he makes us a better football team,” Fontana said. “They both do things a little differently. Brady’s got the legs and Caden’s got the arm. Those guys battled and made us better as a whole. It allows us a lot more freedom with Brady to play defense when we need him to.”

Fontana has been impressed by the work ethic of Casimino, who transferred from Crystal Lake Central.

“Caden comes into a situation not knowing anybody, and right away it was, ‘I’m here to work hard, I’m going to figure everything out, and I’m going to put in extra time,’ " Fontana said. “The amount of film sessions he does with our offensive coordinator just to make sure they’re all on the same page is great.”

Before Friday, the Gators had not beaten Cary-Grove since 2011, a stretch of nine consecutive losses. C-G, meanwhile, entered the game on a 19-game winning streak.

Casimino said Friday’s win over the defending Class 6A state champions serves as a major statement.

“It’s awesome, the chemistry we have is amazing,” Casimino said. “We’ve just got to keep our foot on the gas and just stay hungry, go all out for everything. This win is huge. It shows we can play with anyone. We can play with the best.”

Hail to the champs: Speaking of C-G’s streak, the Trojans’ last loss came in the 2019 Class 6A playoff quarterfinals when Prairie Ridge knocked them out, 14-13. The Wolves had beaten them in Week 7 that year, 42-7.

C-G’s 19-game winning streak was second-longest in the state to Wilmington, which reached 21 with a win over Lisle on Friday.

The Trojans won the 2018 6A state championship with a 14-0 record, so since the start of that season, C-G has lost only three regular-season games. It lost to Huntley and Prairie Ridge in 2019 and to South on Friday.

Hurricane warning: Perhaps the best word to describe Marian Central’s offense in Friday’s 54-38 win over Johnsburg on Friday was scary.

The Hurricanes got rolling behind junior quarterback Cale McThenia, who completed 21-of-31 passes for 427 yards and six touchdowns. He threw TD passes to four receivers.

Marian was so good, almost gaining 300 yards in the first half, that it led the game by 20 points after being down in turnovers, 3-0.

“(McThenia) is a tough quarterback and they have some receivers too,” Skyhawks coach Sam Lesniak said. “He did a nice job of extending plays and made plays on the run. We showed flashes, but we have to be more consistent and we can’t get off to shaky starts.”

Along with Christian Bentancur, McThenia spread the ball around to Rylan Dolter, Christian Stavroplos, Tyson Jakubowicz and Matt Lajb, who all had at least three receptions and 45 yards.

Opening it up: Woodstock North is not exactly be known as a pass-happy offense, but considering how the Thunder attacked Harvard on Friday night in a 21-14 win, the hope is more opponents will have to respect quarterback Jay Zinnen’s capabilities.

With the Hornets consistently crowding the line of scrimmage, Woodstock North used quick passes over the middle that were just over the top of the front seven to pace two big scoring drives.

“We saw that their linebackers were playing really close to the line of scrimmage,” Zinnen said. “So we thought our wings could get right by them, and that open window was just right there.”

So would Zinnen try to convince coach Matthew Polnow to pass the ball a little more?

“We threw a good amount tonight,” Zinnen said. “It was awesome tonight. Our game plan was good. We have some things to fix, but still a great game.”

Polnow and Marian coach Liam Kirwan are first-year head coaches who picked up their first career wins on Friday.

Getting defensive: After giving up 324 points last season, for an average of 36 per game, Woodstock’s defense looks reborn in 2022.

Through two weeks, the Blue Streaks have allowed only 27 points and they held Limestone to a meager 19 yards on the ground in Friday’s 31-13 victory.

How big of a turnaround is that thus far? In 2021, the Streaks didn’t hold an opponent to less than 20 points until a Week 9 victory over crosstown rival Woodstock North. Five times they allowed 42 or more points.

“We have 28 seniors who returned this year, and that makes all the difference in the world,” Streaks coach Mike Brasile said. “Our guys have put in so much hard work during the offseason, and even though we still have plenty to work on, that hard work is starting to pay dividends.”

One of those seniors, defensive back Jared Kniola, moved the scoreboard late in the first half when he picked off Limestone quarterback Caleb Bieneman. On the return, Kniola used an electric juke move to avoid what would have been a monster hit by Bieneman, which resulted in a highlight-reel touchdown.

“That interception gave us a 21-point lead, it was huge,” Brasile said. “And our crowd really got into the game, we felt that support.”

The Streaks (1-1) will get a massive litmus test in Week 3, when they host Sycamore, who made it to the Class 5A state semifinals a year ago.

“Sycamore absolutely embarrassed us last season, 50-0,” Brasile noted. “Needless to say, that’s not something we’ve forgotten about. We have one heck of a challenge on our hands. We’re looking forward to that challenge.”

Tim Froehlig and Andy Tavegia contributed to this report.