Huntley finds delayed two-point decision worth the wait

CARY – Huntley wide receiver Jake Witt was confident he had stretched the football just inside the pylon and that the Red Raiders had beaten Cary-Grove with a two-point conversion.

But in a frenetic finish, Witt and the Raiders had to wait a few moments to receive confirmation.

Initially, one official ruled the conversion no good. The official closest to the play had been wiped out by Witt and C-G defensive back PJ Weaver as the three went down together in a heap out of bounds.

[ Photos: Huntley vs. Cary-Grove ]

Eventually, the crew ruled it was good and Huntley’s sideline erupted in celebration of a 29-28 Fox Valley Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Al Bohrer Field.

Huntley, the No. 8 team in The Associated Press Class 8A poll, rallied from a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter for a wild win over the Trojans, ranked No. 6 in Class 6A.

“It was such an exciting finish,” Red Raiders coach Mike Naymola said. “I’m so proud of our guys for being resilient and in a way you almost feel bad for the other team, but they’ve had their fair share of success against us. It’s nice to get one of these on their home field.”

Huntley quarterback Braylon Bower tossed a 10-yard scoring strike to Witt on third-and-goal from the 10 as time ran out in regulation. The Raiders (6-1, 6-1 FVC) chose to go for the win and not overtime with a kicked extra point.

“We decided early in the fourth quarter if we got in the situation ... that we were going to go for the win,” Naymola said. “We’re on the road, at this point in the season we have stuff to play for, but we want to give our kids the opportunity.”

Witt said the call was for a whip route, in which he faked a slant broke toward the sideline. Bower delivered a perfect ball and Witt, battling against Weaver, was able to just reach the ball over the goal line.

“I was frustrated they called it out at first because I knew I was in,” Witt said. “I was so happy (after the officials conferred). At least they gave us a chance, and then (the referee) came out and called it a two-point. Crazy.”

The Trojans (5-2, 5-2) saw the first call and started celebrating what they thought was a tough homecoming victory.

“We saw one official say, ‘No good,’ " C-G coach Brad Seaburg said. “That was why you saw the reaction our kids and coaches had. Then after discussion they appeared to change the call. We made too many mistakes to get into a situation where the game came down to one play.

“It’s a tough call, the officials made it, you have to move on and focus on what we can control. We can’t control what the officials call, but we can control the other things. That’s what I told the kids. We’re all disappointed. The kids are emotional because they want to win as bad as anybody. That was the message to the kids.”

C-G was trying to put the game away with its final drive and moved to the Huntley 47, but an illegal motion set the Trojans back five yards and quarterback Peyton Seaburg was sacked by the Raiders’ Ben Wean on second-and-7, making it third-and-15.

C-G then punted on fourth down, giving Huntley the ball on its own 23 with 3:22 remaining.

The Raiders moved to C-G’s 24 and faced fourth-and-10 when Bower hit Witt for 14 yards. After two incompletions, Bower hit Witt for the touchdown.

“Witt and Braylon have been working together for a couple of years now,” Naymola said. “Being a senior, he’s our go-to guy. He extended the game for us and he gets rewarded by making that play.”

Bower’s emotions changed drastically after the conversion play and the ensuing officials’ conference.

“I didn’t understand how that’s not good, the pylon’s hit,” Bower said. “I was crying, then they call (it good) and I’m crying happy tears and it’s a dog pile.”

Bower finished 22 of 30 for 179 yards and wide receiver Omare Segarra caught 10 balls for 110 yards. Running back Haiden Janke carried 31 times for 169 yards and three touchdowns.

C-G fullback Logan Abrams ran 13 times for 136 yards and a score and running back Andrew Prio carried five times for 82 yards and two touchdowns.

Huntley ran 77 offensive plays to C-G’s 30 and had a 23-10 edge in first downs, but still needed the final play for the victory.

“This is the best we’ve played so far, because of the competition, for sure,” Bower said. “That gave us a really good test to tell us what kind of team we are. I know we won’t stop fighting until the scoreboard says 0:00. It felt like a playoff game.”

Huntley 29, Cary-Grove 28

Huntley 7 0 7 15 – 29

Cary-Grove 0 14 14 0 – 28

First quarter

H–Janke 1 run (Sargent kick), 3:25.

Second quarter

CG–Seaburg 18 run (Apgar kick), 11:03.

CG–Prio 13 run (Apgar kick), 0:24.

Third quarter

H–Janke 3 run (Sargent kick), 7:54.

CG–Prio 57 run (Apgar kick), 7:39.

CG–Abrams 9 run (Apgar kick), 11.8.

Fourth quarter

H–Janke 1 run (Sargent kick), 6:58.

H–Witt 10 pass from Bower (Witt pass from Bower), 0:00.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Huntley: Janke 30-169, Bower 21-78, Walker 4-5. Totals: 55-252. Cary-Grove: Abrams 13-136, Prio 5-82, Seaburg 11-49, Boone 1-3. Totals: 30-270.

PASSING–Huntley: Bower 22-30-0-179. Cary-Grove: None.

RECEIVING–Huntley: Segarre 10-110, Witt 6-54, Walker 4-14, Garifo 1-2, Janke 1-minus 2. Cary-Grove: None.

TOTAL TEAM YARDS–Huntley 381, Cary-Grove 252.