It just might be an inherent part of McHenry senior Conner McLean’s makeup considering his last name.

Need someone to do dirty work on the football field and clean up what might be some deficiencies? Ask a guy with “clean” in his name.

“He’s the leader of the team,” said Jeff Schroeder, in his second year as head coach at McHenry. “He’s just an unbelievable kid. He works his [butt] off for these guys. I couldn’t have been more blessed to come in and have a kid like him and the rest of these seniors. I’d go to war with them over anybody. They’re unbelievable kids.”

McHenry’s season ends Friday when the Warriors (2-6, 2-6 Fox Valley Conference) visit playoff-bound Prairie Ridge (6-2, 6-2) for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Playing the final home game of their high school careers in Week 8, McLean and his fellow seniors continued to grind against Jacobs, which won 35-19.

McHenry started its final possession with the ball on its own 38 with a little over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. With the outcome already in hand, McLean didn’t seem to care. The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder ran for 45 yards on four carries on the final drive, scoring a 7-yard touchdown with 16.3 seconds left.

“The thing with Conner is we like to use him as a blocker, but also as a runner because he wears people out. He’ll do whatever is best for the team. He doesn’t care.”

—  Jeff Schroeder, McHenry coach

McHenry was honoring its 10 seniors, so getting a TD meant a lot to McLean and Schroeder.

McLean is a defensive standout for the Warriors, playing linebacker and defensive end. On offense, his size and physicality have proved to be valuable assets as a runner and blocker. He also punts.

“We knew he was going to be a linebacker type or a ‘D’ end,” Schroeder said. “It was just offensively trying to find where he fit. What happened was I started playing him at the wing, and he’s such a good blocker there that it’s like having another tight end – and then he has some of that ability to run the ball, too. The thing with Conner is we like to use him as a blocker, but also as a runner because he wears people out. He’ll do whatever is best for the team. He doesn’t care.”

Kelley does whatever it takes: Crystal Lake Central’s Carter Kelley remembers being a “scrawny kid” when he showed up for his first high school football practices. That was more than three years ago.

Kelley and his fellow senior teammates posed for a picture by the end zone following Central’s 34-6 loss to Prairie Ridge on Friday night. It was the Tigers’ final home game of the season.

Kelley moved slowly.

“I’m banged up, but still alive, right?” he said with a grin.

Now 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, Kelley moved to running back earlier this season because of a couple of injuries in the Tigers’ backfield. He played slot receiver as a sophomore and junior. Against Prairie Ridge, Kelley rushed for 44 yards and caught three passes for 23 yards. He made his first start at running back in Week 3 against Dundee-Crown.

“I was still trying to get my feet wet against [D-C] and Burlington Central [in Week 4],” Kelley said. “Then I had a lot of success against [Crystal Lake] South and McHenry.”

Central (2-6, 2-5) wraps up the season Friday night at Hampshire (1-7, 1-7).

Thank you, Burlington Central: Prairie Ridge took a 5-1 record into its home game against Burlington Central on Oct. 11, then got hammered 52-21.

The Wolves followed up with a that’s-more-like-it, 34-6 win over host Crystal Lake Central on Friday night to clinch a playoff berth. They excelled in all three phases. The highlights included an interception return for a TD from Colin Witowski, two field goals and four PAT kicks from Gabe Porter and TD runs by Giovanni Creatore (3 yards), Nick Petty (9 yards) and Jake Wagler (48 yards). Logan Thennes had kickoff returns of 49 and 39 yards and returned a punt 53 yards.

“With any loss, you really want to take away some things that you need to learn, and we really did [from the Burlington Central game],” Prairie Ridge coach Mike Frericks said. “We took away a lot of things. [Burlington Central] taught some things that we needed to work on, things where we got exposed a little bit. We put in a good defensive game plan, and we came out and executed.”

Richmond-Burton’s depth delivers: Richmond-Burton’s depth was on full display in Friday’s 35-21 win over Marengo.

While Hunter Carley and Riley Shea will steal the headlines sometimes with a large volume of carries, the impact of a player such as Luke Johnson cannot be understated. He had all 10 carries after halftime as Richmond-Burton ran 35 plays compared with 23 for Marengo.

“We’ve got depth in the backfield,” R-B coach Mike Noll said. “When Blake Livdahl comes in at fullback, he gives us juice. When Luke Johnson comes in at tailback, he gives us juice. We play two different wingbacks. We use a lot of kids. Tonight we were in double tight [end] a lot. It’s just what we had to do to win the game.”

Carley said depth is key in wearing teams down the way the Rockets have done at times this year. In the second half, Richmond-Burton averaged 7.3 yards a play while throwing only one pass.

“All of our secondaries I think play very well,” Carley said. “So if one of our players gets tired, we know we always have a good sub out there. We can always play faster than these teams, and we know them getting tired is going to give us a big advantage.”

Crown ‘em: Cary-Grove’s 50-7 win over Crystal Lake South on Friday night clinched the FVC championship for the Trojans, who finished third in the FVC last year behind champ Prairie Ridge and Huntley. C-G then went on to win the Class 6A state championship.

C-G last won the FVC in 2021 en route to an undefeated season and Class 6A state title.

“It’s definitely something that we wanted to achieve, that’s for sure,” Trojans senior linebacker Ostin Hansen said. “It’s a big part of the path for the season.”

“Winning the conference championship is great,” senior defensive back Michael Dunkin said. “We haven’t gotten that [in three years], so it’s good that we were able to accomplish that this season.”

Week 8 scoreboard

Fox Valley Conference

Cary-Grove 50, Crystal Lake South 7

Prairie Ridge 34, Crystal Lake Central 6

Burlington Central 31, Hampshire 6

Jacobs 35, McHenry 19

Huntley 48, Dundee-Crown 21

Kishwaukee River Conference

Plano 29, Harvard 22

Johnsburg 38, Woodstock 7

Richmond-Burton 35, Marengo 21

Sandwich 42, Woodstock North 35

Chicagoland Christian Conference

Marian Central 69, Elgin St. Edward 15

Illinois 8-man Football Association

Alden-Hebron 38, Kirkland Hiawatha 6

• Northwest Herald sports editor Alex Kantecki and Shaw Local correspondents Andy Tavegia and Thom Gippert contributed to this report.