Warriors’ work pays off

McHenry running back Mark Iglesia escapes the Johnsburg defense during his first-quarter touchdown run Friday night at Johnsburg. (Justin Runquist photo)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

JOHNSBURG – McHenry was eager to run the football after what it considered a subpar performance against Prairie Ridge.

Frothing-at-the-mouth eager.

“We focused a lot this week on being physical and on running the ball,” Warriors center Joe Newlon said. “Last week we didn’t live up to what we need on offense.”

It showed Friday as McHenry rushed for 204 yards in the first half and rolled past Johnsburg, 35-14, in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game at Johnsburg Athletic Field.

McHenry (3-1 overall) was slowed by its own penalties and the Skyhawks’ defense in the second half, but the damage already had been done.

“By and large, our line was crashing on their defense pretty hard,” Warriors coach Tim Beagle said. “I’m real disappointed in the way we finished. We could have had more first downs in the second half.”

The Warriors rushed for only 43 yards in the second half and managed four first downs.

Click here for highlights of the game

Click here for photos

But fullback Mark Iglesia finished with 131 yards and running back Mike Soto ran for 105. In last week’s 38-19 loss to Prairie Ridge, McHenry rushed for 109 yards.

“We were able to run the ball well,” said Iglesia, who scored the game’s first touchdown on a 66-yard run. “Our line made some huge holes. I’ve never had a run that big before. All I had to do was juke the safety.”

Johnsburg (1-3) tied the score early in the second quarter when Jerad Grundy hit wide receiver C.J. Fiedorowicz with a 56-yard touchdown pass. McHenry took the lead back on John Doessel’s 4-yard touchdown reception from Tyler Marunde.

Then, things went bad for the Skyhawks.

Fiedorowicz, a 6-foot-7 sophomore and the area’s leading receiver, leaped for a pass and was upended by McHenry defensive back Mike Canevello. Fiedorowicz fell hard and rolled over backward on his neck, and did not return after being tended to by Johnsburg’s trainer.

Johnsburg coach Todd Winter said after the game that Fiedorowicz would be OK and return next week.

McHenry got the ball with 1:38 remaining in the half and scored again. The Warriors lined up for a field goal attempt, but Johnsburg called timeout and Beagle reconsidered. Marunde hit Mark D’Angelo for a 12-yard touchdown with 20 seconds to go.

“We did the right thing and called timeout to set up the block,” Winter said. “When they came out on offense, we were happy. For whatever reason, we didn’t execute our game plan on defense. That was our problem a lot of times, just mental errors.”