Tigers run over Chargers

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Crystal Lake Central 35, Dundee-Crown 28

Why Crystal Lake Central won: The Tigers were able to pound the ball on the ground, racking up 444 yards rushing.

Turning point: Central recovered a fumble, then running back Anthony Degani rambled 57 yards for a touchdown to give the Tigers a 35-21 lead.

Most outstanding player: Degani. He finished with 232 yards rushing and three touchdowns to carry the Central offense.

Click here for video highlights of the game.

CARPENTERSVILLE – Legendary Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes stressed to his players that they key to winning football games was to pick up three yards every time they ran the ball. Crystal Lake Central coach Jon McLaughlin wants his team to take it one step further.

“Well, Woody was three yards and a cloud of dust, and we want to get more than three yards,” McLaughlin said. “Our goal is to line up and get five tough yards everytime we run the ball.”

The Tigers’ game plan was highly effective Friday night against Dundee-Crown; Crystal Lake Central racked up 444 yards on the ground and scored four touchdowns longer than 25 yards en route to a Fox Valley Conference crossover victory, 35-28.

Two hundred thirty-two of those rushing yards came from junior running back Anthony Degani, who consistently pounded the ball through the D-C defense. He scored on touchdown runs of 27, 30 and 56 yards.

“Our line just came out and blocked great tonight,” Degani said. “I was able to keep finding holes, breaking tackles and finding the endzone. We just try to have long drives and chew up the clock every time our offensive is on the field. [D-C’s] offense was playing really well tonight, so it was pretty much an offensive battle all night.”

The Chargers (1-2) jumped to a 7-0 first quarter lead on a one yard run by Matt Cutinello. Central tied the score on a 27-yard Degani touchdown run with 10:34 left in the second quarter, and  then grabbed the lead eight minutes later on a four-yard Anthony Niemo run.

The Chargers and the Tigers (3-0) traded touchdowns for the next 15 minutes, until Central took advantage of a fourth quarter D-C fumble by scoring on a 57-yard Degani run to take a comfortable lead at 35-21.

Dundee-Crown added a late touchdown to cut the Central margin to seven, but the Chargers’ onside kick attempt was recovered by the Tigers, who then ran out the clock.

“What can you say? Central really runs their offense well,” Dundee-Crown coach Mike Davis said. “It is tough to stop. They have two backs that are really quick, and then they have Dagani in the middle who is just a horse. They are a good team.”

Degani’s backfield counterpart, Anthony Niemo, ended the night rushing for 150 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers, while Cutinello led D-C with 105 yards and a touchdown.