Tyler Vasey runs for 389 yards as Prairie Ridge outlasts Crystal Lake Central, earns share of FVC title

CRYSTAL LAKE – While the playoffs don’t officially start until next week, there certainly was a postseason feel as Prairie Ridge hosted Crystal Lake Central in the final game of the regular season.

Needing to make each possession count, the host Wolves outlasted the Tigers in an offensive battle 56-49.

With the victory, Prairie Ridge clinched a share of the FVC championship, along with Huntley and Jacobs.

For the game, there were eighteen combined possessions. Outside of a fumble, punt and interception, every other possession resulted in a touchdown.

Crystal Lake Central (2-7) took the opening kickoff and two plays and 76 yards later, the Tigers were up 7-0 as Vince Honer raced down the right sideline to start the scoring.

On PR’s (8-1) opening drive, Nathan Greetham evened the score with 25-yard touchdown run, the first of three touchdown runs for the senior running back.

Central quarterback Jason Penza, returning from an injury that kept him out most of the season, then answered back with a 17-yard touchdown run.

Not to be outdone, PR quarterback Tyler Vasey capped a five-play drive with a 39-yard touchdown run to even the score.

And back and forth it went.

In the first half, Penza had two rushing touchdowns (17 and 2 yards) and two passing touchdowns, both going to George Dimopoulos for 49 and 30 yards. Dimopoulos had seven catches for 167 yards and three total touchdowns.

Vasey was equally impressive for the Wolves. He added a 47-yard touchdown run and then connected with Luke Vanderwiel with an 11-yard touchdown pass as time expired in the first half. Central led 35-28 at the half.

In the second half, the Wolves relied on Greetham, who finished with 151 yards on 26 carries, to help extend their drives and then find the end zone with scoring runs of 3 and 9 yards.

Vasey, meanwhile, continued to put up big numbers. He added touchdown runs of 49 and 34 yards in the fourth quarter. The senior finished the game with 389 yards rushing on 32 carries.

“It’s stressful to be in a game like this,” Vasey said. “Every possession meant something and, overall, our offense played pretty well and we were able to get one more stop than them.”

That stop came late in the fourth quarter as senior Logan Harlow intercepted a Penza pass that sealed the win. Harlow also had a pass breakup in the end zone earlier in the game and Gavin Tinch contributed a sack and a tackle for loss for the Wolves.

For Central, Penza looked strong in his return to the lineup. He completed his first seven passes of the game and was 15 of 24 for 303 yards and four touchdowns.

“For not having really played quarterback since Week 1, he looked really good,” Central coach Dirk Stanger said. “The accuracy was there, the reads were there, and I was so impressed by how he played tonight.”

For the Wolves, the focus now shifts to the playoffs. They feel like the last two weeks have prepared them for the postseason.

“Really great atmosphere tonight, they really pushed us,” Greetham said. “Our coaches kept telling us to treat this like a playoff game and it felt like it.”