Looking Back At Week 1 Of The Prep Football Season

With Week 1 of the high school season now in the books, here’s my look at what we have learned about our area teams….

Huntley: The Red Raiders opened with a 28-6 loss against Crystal Lake Central Friday and will need to make improvements before playing at Kaneland next week. The first varsity start for senior Jake Brock was up and down with only four completions on 12 passes but was able to run out of the pocket several times for big gains. One piece of the puzzle from last year’s team that seemed to be missing was running back James Davis. Davis ran just seven times for 11 yards as Ethan Connor handled most of the running duties with his 54 yards on the ground. Last season after being moved to the running back position, Davis ran for almost 350 yards and averaged nearly 10 yards per carry. I’m interested to see if Davis is more part of the running plan as the season wears on or is it Connor’s job to keep. Brock will improve as the weeks go by as nerves seemed to get the best of him at times Friday night. This is a strong team that ran literally into a rushing attack from Crystal Lake Central that was just too much for opening night.

Jacobs: The Golden Eagles began their 2011 campaign with a 21-6 win at home against Joliet West behind a massive rushing night from senior Caz Zyks. Zyks ran for 211 yards and had three TDs including a 65-yard run in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on the game. Zyks is an exciting back that returned from last season’s playoff team and with him and fellow running back Kyle Wright along with quarterback Jason Judson, Jacobs has an excellent opportunity to improve on their record and plays next week at Johnsburg, who got shut out 42-0 by Grant. Zyks has a chance against to do something special against the Skyhawks, who are usually poor in run defense. When the two teams played last season, Zyks ran for 113 yards while Wright had three touchdowns. I would expect more of the same in Week 2.

Dundee-Crown: The Chargers lost their season-opener 34-19 at Elgin to begin Vito Andriola’s career at D-C head coach. Dundee-Crown was done in by the Maroons’ Dennis Moore, who ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns including a 99-yard kickoff return. There was a bright spot for the Chargers however in running back Ardian Asani, who had three touchdowns of his own but it wasn’t enough during a night where Asani rushed for 74 yards. Next week will be a test for Dundee-Crown playing their home opener against Streamwood. While Moore had a huge night against D-C, Streamwood’s Alex Morrow ran for 277 yards in the Sabres’ opening-game win over Hoffman Estates. The defense and their efforts to stop Morrow are going to be a major key in my opinion if Dundee-Crown wants to avoid going 0-2.