Winning its next two games will be difficult for Hampshire’s football team, but at least the Whip-Purs have put themselves in position to earn a postseason berth if they can pull it off.

It’s been four years since that’s been the case.

Mason Hill’s 25-yard field goal as time expired rallied Hampshire to a 19-17 win over visiting McHenry on Friday night, improving the Whips’ record to 3-4 overall and 3-4 in the Fox Valley Conference.

It was their second straight win, following a 24-21 victory over Crystal Lake South in Week 6. Five wins would give Hampshire a good shot at making the playoffs, something it hasn’t accomplished since going 5-5 in 2021, when it qualified in Class 7A.

“All we can do is try to make strides each week, and we’ve done that the last two weeks,” Whips coach Shane Haak said. “But we’re going to have to take a huge stride, and we are looking forward to that challenge.”

The Whips travel to Cary on Friday to play Cary-Grove, which is playing as well as any team in the area. The Trojans (5-2, 5-2) have won five in a row since starting the season with losses to Prairie Ridge and Burlington Central.

Hampshire finishes the regular season at home against Huntley (3-4, 3-4).

The Whips beat McHenry despite the absence of junior running back Tymere Marshall, who wore a jersey on the sideline but did not dress for the game. Marshall rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns the previous week against South.

The last time Hampshire won two games in a row was in 2021, when it won four straight from Week 4 to Week 7.

“We’re excited,” Whips quarterback Tyler Lacke said after completing 8 of 15 passes for 95 yards against McHenry. “We have two games [left in the regular season], and we are not going to take those lightly. We all know what’s at stake, and it’s do-or-die football games coming up.”

Lucky to have Luke (Johnson): Richmond-Burton running back/free safety Luke Johnson was involved in a pair of big plays Friday night at Woodstock North.

First, the senior covered a squib kick to start the game, giving the Rockets the ball at the North 36. That led to Ray Hannemann’s 29-yard TD pass to tight end Luke Robinson, as the Rockets went on to win 21-0.

The Thunder threatened to break the shutout with just more than a minute left in the fourth quarter, but Johnson teamed up with Edward Carley and Joseph Larson to stop Thunder QB Parker Halihan at the 1 on fourth-and-goal from the 5.

“Luke makes a lot of plays for us,” coach Mike Noll said of Johnson after his Rockets improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the Kishwaukee River Conference. “He’s a really solid senior on ‘O’ and ‘D.’ He does great.”

Johnson also rushed for 34 yards on four carries. He and his teammates will try to get the 300th coaching win for Noll on Friday night, when the Rockets host Marengo.

Lucky to have Luke (Vanderwiel): Prairie Ridge and quarterback Luke Vanderwiel continued to roll Friday, beating an improving Crystal Lake Central team 35-14 to up the Wolves’ record to 7-0 overall and 7-0 in the FVC.

Vanderwiel rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He hiked his season totals to 1,200 yards and 21 TDs (22 overall), both tops in the area.

Playoff-bound Prairie Ridge visits Dundee-Crown (3-4, 3-4) Friday and concludes the regular season the following week at home against Crystal Lake South (1-6, 1-6).

R-B dominates with defense: Richmond-Burton’s 21-0 win over Woodstock North on Friday gave the Rockets five straight wins over the Thunder.

The past four games have all been by shutout.

North last beat R-B in 2017, 35-3. The two teams did not play each other during the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Week 7 scores

Fox Valley Conference

Prairie Ridge 35, Crystal Lake Central 14

Burlington Central 20, Huntley 7

Jacobs 53, Dundee-Crown 18

Hampshire 19, McHenry 17

Cary-Grove 56, Crystal Lake South 13

Kishwaukee River Conference

Richmond-Burton 21, Woodstock North 0

Marengo 49, Harvard 0

Woodstock 42, Sandwich 26

Johnsburg 27, Plano 7

Chicagoland Christian Conference

Marian Central 27, Christ the King 0

Illinois 8-Man Football Association

Alden-Hebron 37, Harvest-Westminster 20

• Correspondent Thom Gippert contributed to this report.