Looking Back at Week 5 of the Prep Football Season

Here’s my look at the local prep football teams after their Week 5 games…

Jacobs: The Golden Eagles improved to 5-0 with a 28-20 Homecoming win over Cary-Grove for their first win over the Trojans since 2001. This is the first time in anyone’s memory that Jacobs has started this strongly. It is a whole new attitude at Jacobs with Bill Mitz now in his second year at the helm. Mitz brought a winning tradition from Stevenson High School and has changed the whole culture of what Jacobs football is. Friday night, Mitz even threw in some shotgun formations where he said after the game, he had never done in his coaching career before. Jason Judson threw for 137 yards including a game-altering 66-yard touchdown to Jake Gierlak nine seconds after Cary-Grove had retaken the lead. While the Golden Eagles were outgained by the Trojans 308-242, all that really mattered was the score. Also, the Jacobs defense showed up big late in the game, stopping Cary on a 4th down play inches short and then after Judson scored again, stopping one final C-G possession to come away with the victory.

This is a team that Algonquin is getting behind more and more each week and for good reason. Next week, Jacobs goes to 1-4 Huntley looking for their sixth straight win. The schedule becomes much tougher for Weeks 7 and 8 as undefeated Prairie Ridge and Crystal Lake South loom ahead. South and Prairie Ridge play next week so one will get their first loss but either way, those will be two tough games for the Golden Eagles or just two more tests along the way toward Jacobs’ best season in over a decade.

Huntley: The Red Raiders got their first win of the season with a 33-14 win over Dundee-Crown in Carpentersville. Huntley has played a brutal early schedule and couple that with injuries, it has been a long season for Coach Matt Gehrig and company. Huntley’s opponents in the first four weeks were a combined 15-1 going into Week 5. Friday night allowed some positive light on the program as Ethan Connor scored four touchdowns to lead Huntley to the win. Obviously, any win is an important win but this one is big for confidence. While next week’s home game against undefeated Jacobs and the following week’s game against Cary-Grove will be challenges, the Red Raiders still have Woodstock and McHenry on their schedule for the final two weeks, who have had their struggles in recent weeks. There is a decent possibility that Huntley could win those last two games of the year.

Dundee-Crown: The Chargers fell to 0-5 with their loss to Huntley on Friday night for Homecoming. It has been a long year for first-year coach Vito Andriola and it has been a long series of years for the D-C fans as the Chargers have lost 22 straight games and hasn’t been to the playoffs or had a winning season since 1994. Cody Lane and Ardian Asani each had touchdowns for D-C in the loss. Dundee-Crown plays Woodstock North next week, who are 3-2 in their third year of varsity athletics. This will likely be the Chargers’ last chance to get a win this season as the season closes with games against Crystal Lake South, Cary-Grove and Jacobs. There is one thing that raises some sort of hope for future years. There are presently 12 sophomores on this year’s D-C team and if those players develop through the rest of this year along with the 2012 season, the 2013 year could be something that the Chargers fans have waited a long time for.