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HUNTLEY – Domination belonged to Huntley quarterback Eric Mooney as the Red Raiders crushed Dundee-Crown 57-14 Friday.
Mooney was a part of six touchdowns, rushing for three touchdowns and passing for three more. The junior totaled 75 yards on the ground and went 7-of-13 for 106 yards in the air.
Huntley (2-1) scored three touchdowns in the first quarter — all on carries by Mooney — three in the second, one in the third, and one in the fourth. Dundee-Crown (0-3) scored once in the second and once in the fourth.
“Eric’s finally getting those reads that we worked on all summer and the beginning part of the year,” Huntley coach Matt Zimolzak said. “When he’s able to make those, he’s unstoppable as a quarterback. He’s a double threat — he’s a runner and a passer, and when you get those reads made correctly, it’s tough to stop.”
Not even four minutes into the game, Mooney scampered 51 yards into the end zone to leadoff the scoring for Huntley, which responded big time after a loss last week to Prairie Ridge.
The tone was set from there, with the offensive line continuing to give Huntley’s playmakers room to work.
Michael Ahmer added 130 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries. Alec Coss made three receptions for 61 yards and one touchdown. The Red Raiders posted 449 total yards.
“The offensive line dominated,” Mooney said. “The first touchdown run, I didn’t even get touched until I was 20 yards down field. That’s all you can ask for as a runner. I ran as hard as I could, but the line was there and the receivers blocked well too.”
Dundee-Crown struggled from the outset.
Quarterback Conor Ryan went 12-of-18 for 109 yards in the air, but that was the main bright spot for the Chargers, who finished with 171 total yards.
“We had some guys dinged up this week. We’re already kind of low with (the number of) guys we have,” Dundee-Crown coach Mike Steinhaus said. “They’re a good team. We knew what to expect. We’re not that type of program yet. We’ll learn from it and move on to next week.”
Huntley never wavered from the opening kickoff, with Mooney pacing the group.
This no doubt served as a bounce back victory.
“It’s huge,” Mooney said. “We knew Prairie Ridge was a good team, but the loss left a sour taste in our mouth. We wanted to come back and we wanted to do something to get us back on track. We did that tonight.”
UNSUNG HERO
Olalere Oladipo, DL
In a game in which Huntley won, Illinois commit Olalere Oladipo quietly wreaked havoc defensively for the Red Raiders. Oladipo blocked a punt and recorded three tackles for a loss in the first quarter alone. Dundee-Crown didn’t get a first down until midway through the second quarter.
AND ANOTHER THING…
The game was played with a running clock (40-point lead or more) for most of the second half despite 22 of the 71 total points accounted for in the first half.
Quick stats
Dundee-Crown 0 8 0 6 — 14
Huntley 21 20 9 7 — 57
First quarter
H – Mooney 51 run (Zion kick). 8:58.
H – Mooney 2 run (Zion kick). 6:44.
H – Mooney 7 run (Zion kick). 3:08.
Second quarter
H – Ahmer 2 run (Zion kick). 11:13.
DC – Williams 4 run (Jay pass from Ryan). 7:05.
H – Coss 13 pass from Mooney (Zion kick). 6:13.
H – Coss 38 pass from Mooney (Kick failed). 2:24.
Third quarter
H – Antonsen 6 pass from Mooney (Kick failed). 9:53.
H – Zion 20 FG. 1:35.
Fourth quarter
H – Aninagyei-Bonsu 43 run (Zion kick). 9:44.
DC – Ibarra 10 run (2-point conversion failed). 4:29.
Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Huntley: Ahmer 15-130, Mooney 5-75, Aninagyei-Bonsu 2-63, Beaudette 8-51. Dundee-Crown: Ibarra 10-30, Williams 8-20, Jay 1-12.
PASSING – Huntley: Mooney 7-13-0-106. Dundee-Crown: Ryan 12-18-0-109.
RECEIVING – Huntley: Coss 3-61, Pitrone 2-32, Flick 1-15, O’Mara 1-11, Antonsen 1-6. Dundee-Crown: Williams 4-33, Jay 4-24, Grant 2-26, Barcklay 1-12, Ibarra 1-5.
Total yards: Huntley 449, Dundee-Crown 171.