Harlem edges Prairie Ridge with late TD, two-point conversion

MACHESNEY PARK – Prairie Ridge knew what was coming as Harlem lined up for a two-point conversion with 4.3 seconds remaining, opting to play for the win rather than go to overtime.

Prairie Ridge used two timeouts to talk about what to do as the Huskies lined up in the swinging-gate formation.

Still, the Wolves could not stop Harlem’s 6-foot-2 wide receiver Dominic McCarren, who bumped with defensive back Marko Mancini as if they were battling for a rebound in basketball. McCarren came down with quarterback James Cooper’s toss between Mancini and Zach Lindquist, giving the Huskies a 43-42 victory in their nonconference football game Saturday at Clyde F. Peterson Stadium.

“We got two guys draped on their receiver for the two-point and somehow he sticks his hand out and the ball’s in his hands,” Wolves coach Chris Schremp said. “We were prepared for that. We were just trying to see their alignments with the timeouts. We knew it was coming. We knew they were going to throw it to 85 (McCarren).

“I feel bad. The kids really played hard. They deserved this victory today.”

Harlem coach Bobby Moynihan told the offense in the middle of its last drive that the Huskies were going for two points if they scored.

“My honest response was, ‘Can’t we just take the tie and go into overtime and win it?’ " Cooper said. “But (Moynihan) said to trust what we do. It was mind-blowing that we went for two, but it ended up being worth it.”

The Wolves (2-3) suffered their third consecutive defeat for the first time in a season since 2012, a year after they won their first of three Class 6A state championships and had heavy graduation losses.

“I was prepared to block the extra point, that’s what I was prepared for,” Prairie Ridge linebacker Matt Fryer said. “It was no surprise when it was the swinging gate. We knew what was coming.

“We fought hard. We live for turnovers, we got (three) turnovers. We made a lot of mistakes the whole way, but there’s no questioning our effort. We played hard.”

Prairie Ridge almost overcome a banged-up defense, which already was missing several starters before defensive back Ty Baker reinjured a hamstring in the first half. The Wolves were starting sophomore Ryan Koelblinger and freshman Dominic Creatore in the secondary.

“To have those guys in the secondary against those athletes, I mean, I feel bad asking those guys to do that,” Schremp said.

Harlem’s 6-4 wide receiver Dez Jordan caught 11 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns. McCarren caught six for 64, along with the game-winner, and Cooper was 28 of 39 for 423 yards, yet the Wolves were still one play from winning.

Prairie Ridge’s offense, which struggled against Crystal Lake Central and Cary-Grove, was almost unstoppable. Quarterback Taidhgin ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown and scored three more times, finishing with 132 rushing yards.

Fullback Carter Evans carried 25 times for 152 yards. The attention the Huskies (5-0) paid to Evans helped open things up for running back Zach Bentsen, who ran 16 times for 109 yards.

“We wanted to come out and play our brand of football and get 4, 5, 6 yards every play,” Trost said. “I feel like that really helped us because that led to some big plays. We kept pounding 4 or 5 (yards) on them.”

Schremp said the Wolves’ first-down success, something they had not had in their previous two games, was crucial to their performance.

“You have to gain 3 or 4 yards on first down, then everything falls into place,” Schremp said. “We were getting solid yards on first down and were able to mix things up inside and outside. Zach did a nice job with our Jet (sweep) play and Carter was hitting the ‘B’ gap. That was a nice combination.”

The Wolves threatened to take a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter when Mancini knocked the ball loose from McCarren and Fryer recovered and returned it to the Harlem 20. The Huskies defense held and Prairie Ridge kicker Jackson Rietz, who was booming extra points well over the bar, came on for a 37-yard field goal.

Harlem’s Adrian Palos broke through the line and blocked the kick and the Huskies’ Reid Foster scooped it up and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown, tying the score at 35-35.

Prairie Ridge drove right back and scored for a 42-35 lead, then Harlem took over on its 20 for the final drive.

The Huskies drove to the Wolves’ 2 and hard third-and-goal. Evans came around left end to spike Cooper’s pass into the artificial turf. But Cooper pulled the ball down on fourth down and raced to the end zone, setting up the two-point throw to McCarren.

“That’s the kind of kid (McCarren) is,” Moynihan said. “He’s a terrific athlete. Both our twin towers (McCarren and Jordan) had great games. They’re just really, really good players and our quarterback’s the real deal.”

Harlem 43, Prairie Ridge 42

Prairie Ridge 7 21 7 7 – 42

Harlem 14 7 7 15 – 43

First quarter

PR–Trost 84 kickoff return (Rietz kick), 11:48.

H–Jordan 98 pass from Cooper (Sterkeson kick), 11:29.

H–Palos 3 pass from Cooper (Sterkeson kick), 3:03.

Second quarter

PR–Trost 9 run (Rietz kick), 11:55.

PR–Trost 70 run (Rietz kick), 8:57.

H–Jordan 14 pass from Cooper (Sterkeson kick), 6:41.

PR–Evans 3 run (Rietz kick), 2:58.

Third quarter

PR–Bentsen 7 run (Rietz kick), 6:20.

H–Jordan 10 pass from Cooper (Sterkeson kick), 2:30.

Fourth quarter

H–Foster 72 return with blocked field goal (Sterkeson kick), 8:09.

PR–Trost 7 run (Rietz kick), 5:12.

H–Cooper 2 run (McCarren pass from Cooper), 0:04.3.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Prairie Ridge: Evans 25-152, Trost 12-138, Bentsen 16-109, Solis 2-7. Totals: 55-406. Harlem: Palos 6-46, Crawford 9-41, Jordan 2-12, Cooper 2-4, McCarren 1-2. Totals: 20-105.

PASSING–Prairie Ridge: Trost 0-4-1-0. Harlem: Cooper 28-39-2-423.

RECEIVING–Prairie Ridge: None. Harlem: Jordan 11-232, Ishmon 6-64, McCareen 4-64, Crawford 3-28, Palos 2-17, Willard 1-8.

TOTAL TEAM YARDS–Harlem 528, Prairie Ridge 406.