Role reversal

Crystal Lake Central's Gage Harrah carries the ball against Cary-Grove in last year's season opener in Cary. The teams meet again Friday in Crystal Lake. (Lauren M. Anderson – landerson@nwherald.com)

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Cary-Grove took the football field last season with an established team that rocked most of its opponents on the way to winning the IHSA Class 6A state championship.

The Trojans’ first victim in their 14-0 run was Crystal Lake Central, which more or less switches roles with C-G when the two kick off their season at 7:15 p.m. today at Central’s Owen Metcalf Field in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game.

It’s Central that returns most of its starting backfield and has a more veteran team this time, while the Trojans have only three starters back from last year. It makes for one of the area’s most intriguing matchups for the opening week.

“We don’t know what to expect from them from a personnel standpoint,” first-year Central coach Matt Fralick said. “We have no idea. They know our personnel, but from an X’s and O’s standpoint, they don’t know us as well.”

C-G was No. 2 in The Associated Press Class 6A poll this week, while Central (8-3 last season) was among the teams receiving votes that did not crack the top 10. Tigers running back Gage Harrah rushed for 1,421 yards last season, and Dyllon McKinney, another running back, carried for 533. Quarterback Brett Schuld also returns, and Ryan Hines steps in for graduated fullback Adam Smyth.

“It feels good because there’s a lot of camaraderie about us [in the backfield],” Schuld said. “We played (on the Crystal Lake) Raiders with each other, and we know what each other can do as a player. We know Ryan can play football taking over in Adam’s spot.”

Central lost to C-G, 40-0, in last year’s opener after some early fumbles led to easy scores. The Tigers didn’t lose again until the final regular-season game, a 37-36 setback to Woodstock. Central and Woodstock shared the FVC Fox Division crown.

“Last year’s game gave our kids an idea how much further they had to work to get to that level,” Fralick said. “The kids have stepped it up through the offseason. There will be no regrets this time. They’ve left no stone unturned.”

The Tigers open the season with a state champion and two teams (Prairie Ridge and Peoria Richwoods) that reached the playoff semifinals last season.

“We’re going to find out what we can do with the season,” Schuld said. “We’re going to play hard against Cary-Grove, the defending state champs, and we have to play our best.”

C-G is short on players with varsity experience, but its tradition is unmatched among area teams. Since 2004, the Trojans have been to two state championship games and have lost only one regular-season game.

“This is a great test for us,” C-G coach Bruce Kay said. “[Central] is a very good team, we’ve got our hands full.”

The Trojans will go with junior Corey Laktas at quarterback, junior Connor Carlson at one running back and sophomore Ryan Mahoney at the other running back. Another sophomore, Pat O’Malley, takes the fullback spot in C-G’s triple-option offense.

“We’ve come a long way from the summer, a very long way,” Laktas said. “Mentally, we’ve been studying Central. Coach has emphasized that if we play faster and lower, we’ll be OK.”

Teams often struggle to match C-G’s speed and the tempo at which it plays. Whether the Trojans, with so many new players, can do that on the varsity level is the big question.

“Every level gets faster,” Laktas said. “We have to get faster and stronger, and I think we did that with our offseason programs. We have to think and play faster than our opponents.”