Ground game delivers for Warriors

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

GRAYSLAKE – The McHenry football team notched its first win of the season Friday, blanking Grayslake North, 42-0, in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game.

All six McHenry touchdowns came via the ground game, as the Warriors’ no-huddle offense methodically wore down the Knights and seemed to give them fits all evening long.

“This is the first year we’ve done the no-huddle,” McHenry coach Tim Beagle said. “So far, it’s improving. We got help from a lot of places tonight.”

Despite the six rushing touchdowns, it was the accurate passing of senior quarterback Thomas Rose (20 of 26, 260 yards, interception) that allowed McHenry to move the ball up and down the field as quickly as it did.

“This week, we didn’t make as many mistakes as we did last week, and that made a huge difference,” Rose said.

After a scoreless first quarter saw McHenry (1-2) take the ball into Grayslake North (1-2) territory three times without points, the Warriors opened up the floodgates in the second quarter.

An 8-yard run by Jake Howe, a 55-yard QB keeper by Rose, and a one-yard score by Dana Kohn led to a 21-0 halftime lead for McHenry. The Warriors outgained the Knights, 281-39, in total yards from scrimmage in the first half.

McHenry picked up where it left off to start the third quarter. The Warriors made it 28-0 on Howe’s second touchdown run of the night – this time from two yards out – on the Warriors’ first drive of the second half.

Kohn then scored his second touchdown after a Knights fumble less than a minute later, which led to a one-yard score with 8:57 remaining.

“We were ready for what McHenry was trying to do,” Grayslake North coach Steve Wood said. “But we didn’t tackle, and we turned the ball over. You can’t keep doing things like that, and not expect it to cost you points sooner or later.”

Junior Trevor Jones ended the game’s scoring with a seven-yard run with 11:51 remaining in the game.

McHenry senior wide receiver Trevor Marunde led the Warriors with eight catches for 152 yards.