Trojans dominate Chargers

CARPENTERSVILLE -- The season started out so promising for Dundee-Crown with a win over Elgin High back on opening night.

However, it was all down hill after that and by Friday's night's season finale against Cary-Grove it couldn't end soon enough for the weary Chargers. The powerhouse Trojans had no problem trouncing D-C 57-12 to finish undefeated in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division for the fifth straight season and undefeated overall for the fifth time in the last six years.

It was the Chargers' eighth straight loss.

"We have just made way too many mistakes all season," said D-C coach Mike Davis. "After the Elgin game we had a couple chances to win games against Streamwood and Grayslake, but made mistakes at critical times and that seemed to continue all year. We were concerned that might be a problem when the season began because we just didn't have many guys who had played at the varsity level. I'm sure that inexperience had a lot to do with it."

The Chargers (0-9, 0-5) were absolutely no match for the Trojans from the very outset. C-G, ranked second in the Class 6A state poll, scored touchdowns on its first six possessions, including its first three plays from scrimmage.

C-G (9-0, 5-0) started three of those possessions deep in D-C territory following Chargers turnovers.

"We just didn't get off to a very good start," said Davis. "We were flat and they just took it right to us."

The Chargers trailed 41-0 after the first quarter and were down 47-0 before getting on the board on the final play of the first half with quarterback Tanner Kotlan hooking up with Geoff Clifford on a 25-yard touchdown pass. Kotlan also had an 8-yard touchdown pass to Danny Sharp in the fourth quarter. Kotlan and Sharp, who was the Chargers' leading rusher this season, are both juniors, giving D-C something to build with next year.

"The future might not be as bleak as this season ended," said Davis. "We have a lot of juniors coming back and the underclass teams have had a lot of success this year. I think the most important thing looking forward is we have to put a mandate on putting in more work during the off-season."

CARY-GROVE 57, DUNDEE-CROWN 12

Cary-Grove      41   8   8   0   –   57

Dundee-Crown  0    6   0   6   –   12

Scoring

CG – Chandler 56 run (Taylor kick), 11:45

CG – Chandler 50 run (kick failed)

CG – Chandler 9 run (Krebs run), 9:33

CG – Hapanovich 6 run (Taylor kick), 7:16

CG – Chandler 6 run (pass failed), 4:08

CG – Hapanovich 4 run (Taylor kick), 3:10

CG – Schuh 6 run (Leach run), 2:19

DC – Clifford 25 pass from Kotlan (kick failed), :05

CG – Schuh 16 run (Schuh run), 7:30

DC – Sharp 8 pass from Kotlan (kick failed), 9:16

Team statistics           C-G        D-C

First downs                    19            7

Passing Comp-Att-Ints 1-3-0     8-24-1

Passing yards                  8             92

Rushing Att-Yds         39-312     21-21

Total yards                    320          113

Penalties-Yds                1-15        3-15

Fumbles-Lost                 3-3         5-3

Individual statistics

Rushing

C-G: Chandler 6-157, Schuh 8-49, Hapanovich 4-13.

D-C: Sharp 9-24, Drozdz 5-11, Kotlan 5-5, Blunk 1-5, Steel 1-(minus 24).

Passing

C-G: Krebs 1-2-0 8, Leach 0-1-0 0.

D-C: Kotlan 8-24-1 92.

Receiving

C-G: Chandler 1-8.

D-C: Clifford 3-47, Sharp 1-29, Torres 1-16.