Prairie Ridge sophomore Tyler Vasey has huge varsity debut in win over McHenry

HUNTLEY – Prairie Ridge can gouge defenses up the middle with 240-pound fullback Carter Evans and burn them around the corner with speedy quarterback Taidhgin Trost.

On Friday, the Wolves broke out the new guy, sophomore running back Tyler Vasey, who ran six times for 153 yards and two touchdowns as Prairie Ridge defeated McHenry, 42-16, in their Fox Valley Conference opener at Huntley’s Red Raider Stadium.

Vasey ran for touchdowns of 38 and 15 yards in the first half, then set up an Evans’ 1-yard run in the third quarter with a 65-yard run.

“We saw him last year in scout offense and he was just a beast against our defense,” Trost said. “I think from there coach (Chris Schremp) kind of knew we had to get this kid in the game.

“I’ve never seen him play (in games). He was on the freshman team last year. It was great to see him. The kid runs so hard, so fast, he’s perfect for our offense.”

The Wolves (1-0, 1-0 FVC) fell behind McHenry (0-1, 0-1) in the first quarter when running back Mason Gureczny ran for a 14-yard score and quarterback Andrew Hoffman hit Matt Gallimore for the 2-point conversion.

Trost scored on an 11-yard run and then hit running back Zach Bentsen with a 21-yard pass to take the lead. Vasey scored on a 38-yarder for a 20-8 halftime lead.

“Tyler Vasey made some plays tonight,” Schremp said. “I knew he was going to be a solid player, but that was impressive.”

Vasey said once the game started, he felt more at ease.

“I was a little nervous coming in, but right off the bat all the jitters went away and I felt good,” Vasey said. “It’s going to be behind a big O-line, that’s something special. It was fun.”

Schremp was a little frustrated with his offense, but liked the defensive effort.

“Our defense played really well,” he said. “We had awesome pursuit and had great open-field tackling.”

After Vasey scored in the third and set up Evans’ touchdown, McHenry struck back with Hoffman hitting Adam Benton for a 14-yard score. Gureczny ran in the 2-point conversion.

“We played very well in the first and second quarters,” Warriors coach Jon Niemic said. “Late in the second quarter the wheels kind of came off. We talked aobut not letting our highs be too high and our lows be too low. We can’t be satisfied with that.”

Niemic was just thrilled that there was football after the COVID-19 pandemic had wreaked havoc upon high school sports and postponed the regular fall football season.

“At the end of the day, we had a chance to play and that’s all that matters,” Niemic said. “These seniors got a chance to play on this field and we have five more games left.”

Prairie Ridge 42, McHenry 16

Prairie Ridge 6 14 15 7 – 42

McHenry 8 0 0 8 – 16

First quarter

M–Gureczny 15 run (Gallimore pass from Hoffman), 7:00.

PR–Trost11 run (kick failed), 1:41.

Second quarter

PR–Bentsen 21 pass from Trost (run good), 6:55.

PR–Vasey 38 run (run failed), 4:38.

Third quarter

PR–Vasey 15 run (run good), 6:36.

PR–Evans 1 run (Rietz kick), 0:06.

Fourth quarter

M–Benton 9 pass from Hoffman (Gureczny run), 8:47.

PR–Evans 4 run (Rietz kick, 4:14.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Prairie Ridge: Vasey 6-153, Trost 14-115, Baker 5-62, Evans 5-18, Solis 4-12. McHenry: Hallin 7-41, Gureczny 9-39, Hoffman 3-15, Acosta 3-3, Lucas 1-3.

PASSING–Prairie Ridge: Trost 2-9-1-35. McHenry: Hoffman 11-20-1-125.

RECEIVING–Prairie Ridge: Bentsen 1-21, Komar 1-14. McHenry: Benton 7-100, Gallimore 2-8, Hallin 1-11, Smiesko 1-6.