Big plays send Hampshire past Crystal Lake Central

CRYSTAL LAKE – Hampshire wasted no time making big plays Friday against Crystal Lake Central, intercepting Tigers quarterback Colton Madura on the first play of the game.

Hampshire’s Charles Sladek was somehow on the receiving end of a 30-yard pass from Tyler Fikis while sitting on his rear at the Tigers’ 7-yard line on the ensuing drive, and three plays later hauled in the first of six scores for the Whips.

Hampshire kept rolling from there, finishing with 492 yards of offense in a 43-6 win over Central in their Fox Valley Conference game. The Whips (2-2, 2-2 FVC), who gave up 48 points to Crystal Lake South last week, moved back to .500 with the win.

“It’s huge,” Hampshire coach Jake Brosman said. “Central is obviously a very good team, and we’re pretty proud of that win, I’ll be honest. It was a hard physical game. Our boys executed well. I’d say it was one of the bigger wins we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

[ Photos: Crystal Lake Central vs. Hampshire ]

Whips quarterback Tyler Fikis ended the game with five total touchdowns, completing 7-of-12 passes for 179 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also had 139 yards on the ground with scoring runs of 7, 20 and 40 yards.

Hampshire led, 28-0, at half and held a 333-74 advantage in total yards. The Whips started the second half with a seven-play, 79-yard scoring drive that took only 2:39 off the clock and ended with a Tristan Villarreal 33-yard run for a 35-0 lead.

Villarreal had 146 rushing yards on 12 carries and wide receiver Devin Yeats made four catches for 126 yards and a touchdown. Sladek added two catches for 36 yards and the score on Hampshire’s opening possession.

As good as Hampshire’s offense was, the Whips’ defense was equally as dominant.

After Central’s interception on the game’s opening drive, they forced the Tigers (2-2, 2-2) into five first-half punts. Brosman was proud to see his defense stick to the game plan.

“Central’s offense is explosive,” Brosman said. “We honed in on being able to stop those explosive plays. We knew the game plan well, and we executed it well. It was clear our boys knew what to expect from [Central’s] offense. We want to play physical, and we played physical.”

Hampshire recorded five sacks in the game: Xander Gramarossa, Daniel Chojnowski, Ethan Jimenez, Villarreal and Collin Kallhoff. Zach Vodraska picked off Madura to start the game, and Tyler Doonan had an interception in the second half.

Tigers quarterback Jason Penza finished 13-of-31 passing for 122 yards and a score after Madura left with an injury in the second quarter. Penza also added 60 yards on the ground.

Brent Blitek had 83 yards rushing on 18 carries for Central. Myles Stanger tacked on 44 yards receiving and a touchdown. Jake Carnrite also had 44 yards on five catches.

Hampshire 43, Crystal Lake Central 6

Hampshire 12 16 7 8 – 43

CL Central 0 0 6 0 – 6

First quarter

H–Sladek 6 pass from Fikis (kick missed), 8:52

H–Fikis 7 run (run failed), 5:41

Second quarter

H–Yeats 46 pass from Fikis (Fikis run), 6:54

H–Fikis 20 run (Sladek run), 0:43

Third quarter

H–T. Villarreal 33 run (Rojas kick), 9:21

CLC–Stanger 26 pass from Penza (kick missed), 5:18

Fourth quarter

H–Fikis 40 run (Murphy run), 10:23

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Hampshire: Fikis 12-139, Villarreal 12-146, Kenny 7-22, Scott 3-15, Hill 2-4, Sladek 4-6, Murphy 1-3, Massie 1-0, Team 3-minus 22. Total: 45-313. CL Central: Blitek 18-83, Penza 5-60, Madura 2-15, Fleming 2-5, Team 6-minus 30. Total: 33-133.

PASSING–Hampshire: Fikis 7-12-0-179. CL Central: Penza 13-31-1-122, Madura 2-6-1-7.

RECEVING–Hampshire: Yeats 4-122, Sladek 2-36, Murphy 1-21. CL Central: Carnrite 5-44, Stanger 3-44, Dimopoulos 2-7, Fleming 3-34, Blitek 2-0.

TOTAL YARDS–Hampshire 492, Crystal Lake Central 262