After a pair of tough yet respectable losses to undefeated teams, Jacobs felt it was simply a complete and mistake-free performance away from getting back on track.

The Golden Eagles got that performance Friday in a convincing 35-6 road victory at McHenry.

Jacobs never punted, controlled the line of scrimmage with 352 yards rushing and held McHenry to just one fourth-quarter touchdown in moving back to .500 at 2-2.

“I think this game meant a lot to us,” said running back Caden DuMelle, who rushed for 195 yards and a touchdown to lead the effort. “It was a rebuttal. It was us showing ourselves that we are the team we know we can be.

“We shot ourselves a lot in the foot these past two weeks, but I felt this was a great bounce-back win and really rejuvenated our confidence, and we will come out stronger next week.”

The most impressive aspect of the victory might have been what happened in the final 15 minutes.

Down only 14-0, McHenry attempted a fake punt from its own 36 with 5:10 to go in the third quarter. Jacobs was ready and stuffed it, setting up a short 38-yard scoring drive that ended with a 1-yard run from Michael Cannady (16 carries, 97 yards) to make it 21-0.

“It wasn’t that I doubted our physicality; it’s just a matter of finishing the plays and finishing the drives,” said Jacobs coach Brian Zimmerman. “That was kind of our big thing this week was let’s make sure we are finishing. We were coming out aggressive the past few weeks, but we just weren’t finishing through the whistles, so it was a point of emphasis this week.

“I thought they did a really outstanding job tonight.”

Despite a 14-yard TD run by Dayton Warren on McHenry’s next possession, Jacobs went on to get a 15-yard touchdown pass from Austin Stennett to Jaylen Langley and a 9-yard scoring run from Stennett to put the game away.

Justin Gonzalez scored a first-half touchdown on a 30-yard run.

The Warriors (2-2, 2-2), on the other hand, had difficulties finishing drives despite advancing into Jacobs territory on four possessions. McHenry was 2-for-6 on fourth down and had a critical holding penalty wipe out a first-half drive that got inside the 10-yard line.

Quarterback Jeffry Schwab was 12-of-21 for 127 yards and an interception. He also added 43 yards rushing.

“Would we love to be 4-0? Yeah, I mean I would think the goal is to be 9-0,” said McHenry coach Colt Nero. “But in our minds, we’re 2-2, it’s a brand-new season now.

“We have to turn it up in practice this week. We have to have some good practices and get ready for next Friday, because like you said, it doesn’t get any easier. But if I know our guys like I think I do, we’re going to respond the right way.”