McHenry County football notes: Cary-Grove in strange spot fighting to make the playoffs

Cary-Grove has entered uncharted territory.

The Trojans, who 11 months ago won one of the greatest football games in IHSA history, are fighting for their playoff lives. It is a position in which C-G (3-4, 3-4 in the Fox Valley Conference) has not been since 2003.

Normally, C-G is playing for one of the top seeds in the Class 6A northern bracket. Now, the Trojans need to win at Burlington Central this week and at home against Hampshire next week to qualify at 5-4.

Shaw Local’s Steve Soucie, who updates potential playoff brackets in all eight classes each week, sees scenarios where some 4-5 teams might make the 256-team playoff field. However, Soucie projects the line for 4-5 teams will be around 45 playoff points (opponents’ victories) and FVC teams, playing in a locked conference, could only get to 41 points if they have a 4-5 record.

“We have to win or we’re out,” Trojans coach Brad Seaburg said after Friday’s 41-7 loss to Jacobs. “We’ll see. I know the kids didn’t quit and they keep working. We’re going to have to keep working this week and see what happens.

“We have to stop them. We didn’t stop Jacobs tonight. And we need to score more.”

Adding to C-G’s frustrations Friday was a line of five players on crutches – fullback-linebacker Colin Desmet, wide receiver-defensive back Mykal Kanellakis, linebacker Connor Anderson, running back Alex Schuppe and running back-linebacker Hayden Dieschbourg. Desmet was C-G’s leading rusher. Kanellakis, Schuppe and Dieschbourg, if healthy, likely would have gotten carries as well.

Backup fullback Holden Boone and running back Andrew Prio are the only healthy backs left with quarterback Peyton Seaburg from the start of the season.

Dieschbourg was injured before the season. Desmet, Kanellakis and Schuppe were lost in Week 6 and Anderson in Week 5. Desmet, Anderson and defensive lineman-linebacker Thomas Burton were the three returning starters from last year’s Class 6A state championship team.

C-G, arguably, came up with its best win in school history when it defeated mighty East St. Louis, 37-36, last year for the Class 6A state title. The Flyers were loaded with NCAA Division I recruits; the Trojans had only quarterback Jameson Sheehan, who accepted an offer as a preferred walk-on at Illinois.

The Trojans have competed well with so many new varsity players. Their losses have come against Crystal Lake South (5-2) and Prairie Ridge, Huntley and Jacobs (all 6-1). Friday’s loss to Jacobs is the only game that was not close in the second half.

Chasing history: With Jacobs’ victory over C-G on Friday, the Golden Eagles are in a position to tie the school record for wins (9-2) set in 1999. That was the only other Jacobs team to finish a regular season at 8-1.

Jacobs finishes at Hampshire and then hosts Dundee-Crown in the last two regular-season games. Two wins and a first-round win in the Class 7A playoffs would tie the school record.

The Eagles enjoyed their Military Appreciation and First Responders Night on Friday with the win over C-G, which they had not beaten since 2013. Also in attendance Friday were several members of the 1979 Jacobs team, the first in school history to make the playoffs and win a game. That Eagles team won its Class 4A playoff opener, then lost in the second round to Antioch.

Playoff scenario: C-G’s game at Burlington Central (3-4, 3-4) will be a crucial one this Friday. The winner’s playoff hopes will remain alive, the loser’s will not.

C-G finishes with Hampshire in Week 9; Central ends with McHenry.

The most teams the FVC can have in the playoffs this season is five.

In the Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8 Blue Division, Richmond-Burton (7-0, 3-0 KRC/I8 Blue) is playing for the top seed in Class 4A. Marengo (3-4, 2-2) and Johnsburg (3-4, 1-3) have realistic chances of winning out to make the playoffs.

In the KRC/I8 White, Woodstock (3-4) can make the playoffs with wins over Johnsburg and Ottawa.

South rebound continues: Football is the one sport where unexpected regular-season losses can destroy playoff hopes.

Crystal Lake South has responded to a loss to Burlington Central with some major offensive damage of 91 points in consecutive victories over Crystal Lake Central and McHenry.

The playoff-eligible Gators are 5-2 as they prepare for the next two weeks of what coach Rob Fontana called the FVC’s “Murderers Row” of Prairie Ridge and Huntley, who are tied atop the league standings at 6-1 with Jacobs.

“Maybe Burlington Central was a good wakeup call for us to get, because it reset what we’re doing and everyone is ready for the daily grind of practice,” Fontana said of the 24-20 loss in Week 5.

“Hopefully we can get on a run,” senior two-way lineman Nate Compere said. “You never want to say a loss is a good thing, but it was a wakeup call like coach said.”

Generating offense hasn’t been an issue with the Gators averaging 36 points a game. They showed the variety of ways they can score Friday from the running of Nate Van Witzenburg, the passing of Caden Casimino and the versatility of Brady Schroeder, who ran for two scores and threw for another in situations inside the McHenry 10.

“In our offense basically everybody is a threat,” Van Witzenburg said. “We disperse the ball, and we know everybody is going to get it done.”

Fontana said seniors including Compere, Van Witzenburg and Schroeder are making sure the Gators are ready for the final push toward the postseason.

“The seniors we do have ... they don’t let guys take days off and mess around in practice,” Fontana said. “The senior leadership has truly taken over, and it’s been extremely amazing for us.”

Warriors look to bounce back: McHenry’s goal of recovering from an 0-4 start to make a run to the playoffs ended with Friday’s 41-14 loss to South.

But the 2-5 Warriors displayed the competitiveness they have showed all season with Dom Caruso throwing two fourth-quarter touchdown passes and Caleb Sites and Zach Maness combining for 11 catches and 167 yards.

“I’m so proud of our kids, they battled,” McHenry coach Joel Beard said. “We challenged them at halftime to continue to play and they did.”

McHenry had a chance to jump ahead early when its defense got a stop on the game’s opening possession and then it drove from its 14 to the South 12. The drive ended with a 5-yard loss on fourth-and-2 and the Warriors didn’t get inside the Gators’ 45 again until the fourth quarter.

“I don’t know if it would have made a difference in the game, but it would have been huge for us to start (with a touchdown),” Beard said. “Give South credit. They played their game.”

R-B’s other fullback: Even though Richmond-Burton fullback Steven Siegel had three rushing touchdowns in Friday’s 42-14 win over Johnsburg, bringing his area-leading total to 22, the Rockets are not a one-man show.

Junior fullback Braxtin Nellessen is a 5-foot-11, 235-pound powerhouse who can be extremely tough to tackle. Nellessen needed only 17 carries to rack up 139 yards against the Skyhawks, but here’s the kicker.

He was playing with a broken right thumb, which was in a cast all game. It didn’t affect his ability to protect the ball, either. At one point midway through the third quarter, Nellessen drug multiple defenders an extra 5 yards with him after initial contact, resulting in a first down.

As he ran off the field, Rockets coach Mike Noll shouted his approval at him.

“That’s the way you run the football!” Noll said, clapping his hands in approval.

After the game, Noll talked about the versatility of R-B’s run game.

“We’ve all seen what Steven (Siegel) is capable of,” Noll said. “But Braxtin is more of a downhill runner, the type of kid you don’t want to be on the receiving end of when he’s coming at you. He was moving the chains all night tonight.”

Room for improvement: Ever the perfectionist, Noll found one part of Friday’s game worth critiquing. In a stretch of 1:16 just before halftime, Johnsburg’s Jake Metze scored on a 70-yard reception, then picked off a pass and returned it 97 yards for a score as time expired.

“When we get to the postseason, those are the kinds of mental lapses we just can’t have,” Noll said. “The rest of the game, I was really pretty pleased with, overall. But it shows you can’t lose your focus, even for a moment. It’s a 60-minute game.”

• Marty Maciaszek and Tim Froehlig contributed to this report.