CL Central, PR ready to ‘bring it’

Crystal Lake Central's Ryan Hines gets past the Cary-Grove defense to gain yardage in the first quarter Friday. The Tigers defeated the Trojans, 27-6. (Lauren M. Anderson – landerson@nwherald.com)

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Crystal Lake Central offensive tackle Johnny Laurence has a pretty good idea what the Tigers are up against in Prairie Ridge.

“They’re an aggressive team and a very fast team,” Laurence said. “They like to bring it. They seem very fast and they want it bad, too, just like us.”

Plus, Prairie Ridge has stewed for a year after a 35-14 loss to Central, the first time the Tigers had beaten the Wolves since 1998, the second year Prairie Ridge was open.

All that factors in as the Fox Valley Conference Fox Division favorites square off at 7:15 p.m. today at Owen Metcalf Field. Even with seven games remaining, the winner will have taken a significant step toward the division championship.

“This has been lingering in our minds since last year,” Wolves safety Devon Vance said. “We’re coming out and getting ready for a good game. We played at a high level [in a 55-0 win against Woodstock], but we know Central’s a better team and we have to increase that tenfold.”

Central opened with a 27-6 victory against Cary-Grove, the defending Class 6A state champion which returns three starters this season. The Tigers rolled up 373 yards of offense behind running back Gage Harrah’s 29 carries for 197 yards and four touchdowns.

“I was pleased with the way we put drives together of 10 plays or longer, and protected the ball,” Central coach Matt Fralick said. “If we can do that, we’ll be fine. If not, we’ll have some problems. We know [Prairie Ridge] is going to be a very tough team. Their entire defense is very fast and it will be a challenge for us to match their speed.”

Central moved from the teams receiving votes to No. 7 in The Associated Press Class 6A poll this week. The first third of the Tigers’ schedule includes a state champion (C-G), a Class 6A semifinalist (Prairie Ridge) and a Class 5A semifinalist (Peoria Richwoods).

“We stuck to our game plan, we’re big on ball control,” Laurence said. “We had a great game against Cary, but it’s over and we have to focus on Prairie Ridge. We’re excited.”

Central shared the FVC Fox title with Woodstock last season, while Prairie Ridge and Johnsburg tied for third. Wolves coach Chris Schremp hopes his defense, which returns seven starting players, can slow down Harrah, the 6-foot, 215-pound junior, and his teammates.

“We have to stop the running game some if we have a chance to win,” Schremp said. “I’m not telling you anything new there. We know Gage is going to get 25 carries, we just have to try stopping him at the line of scrimmage. Once he gets going, he has breakaway speed.”

After paying so much attention to Harrah, C-G was hurt by running back Dyllon McKinney, fullback Ryan Hines and quarterback Brett Schuld.

“Every man has to do his job, and not be selfish and overpursue,” Vance said. “Gage and those guys are all good runners.”