Red Raiders keep playoff hopes alive

HUNTLEY – Nothing is etched in stone for Huntley but the Red Raiders own what they figure is a decent shot at a state playoff berth when pairings come out tonight because of a victory that was etched in mud.

Behind 133 tough yards by senior Brett Kleckner, Huntley survived the slop, cold, rain, wind and Jacobs 16-6 in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win Friday to gain the coveted fifth victory.

"We really wanted to get to the playoffs -- not for the whole running through the brackets to quarterfinals and all that stuff but we wanted to make it to start a legacy here and have people know Huntley is a tough team and never backs down," Kleckner said.

Huntley coach Steve Graves figures the Red Raiders will be a 7A playoff team this year after making the 6A playoffs last year.

"You can't assume anything, though," Graves said.

The Red Raiders (5-4, 2-3) held Jacobs to one first down and ran off 36 plays to 12 by the Golden Eagles in the first half while establishing a 10-0 lead.

Kleckner's 2-yard touchdown run 31 seconds into the second quarter and Tor Larkin's extra-point kick and 18-yard field goal five seconds before the end of the second quarter accounted for the first half scoring.

"It was just 4 yards of slop at a time," Graves said after his team gained 217 yards on the night without throwing a pass.

Then star Huntley linebacker-fullback Marcus Popenfoose joined tackle Anthony Andolino (ankle sprain) on the sidelines with a knee sprain and it started getting dicey for the Red Raiders.

"Marcus could have gone back in," Graves said. "It's a mild sprain, but if you noticed, we started to give up a lot more yardage on defense inside in the second half."

After getting 26 yards in the first half and one first down, Jacobs (2-7, 1-4) took advantage of a fourth-down penalty on a punt that extended a drive before eventually pulling within 10-6 on Kyle Wright's 1-yard TD run with 3:30 left in the third quarter. A clutch 11-yard, fourth-and-seven pass to the one from Jason Judson to Dale Cook made the TD possible.

Huntley's offense came to the aid of its defense with the a 65-yard, in-your-face march in 14 plays, capped off by Larkin's 6-yard TD run around right end that all but clinched the win with 6:10 remaining.

"We knew if we got in there the game was over and we came together as a team like we did all summer in practices and put it in – we did what we had to do," Kleckner said.

When Jacobs tried to come back, it was going into a 30 mph wind and the rain started again after stopping. The Golden Eagles got to the 5 with 30 seconds left but no closer.

"For our offense to get the defense out of the wind there was tremendous," Graves said.

Now comes the waiting, but Graves figured at least 38 playoff points for his team.

"I know that 38 almost methodically gets you in," he said. "One time here 37 didn't when we were 5-4 and it was devastating. There are no guarantees until it's over."

HUNTLEY 16, JACOBS 6

Jacobs        0    0    6    0   --   6

Huntley       0   10   0    6   --   16

H – Brett Kleckner 2 run (Tor Larkin kick) 11:29

H – FG Larkin 18 :05

J – Kyle Wright 1 run (run failed) 3:30

H – Larkin 6 run (kick failed) 6:10

Team statistics          JAC        HUNT

First downs                   10             16

Passing                       1-3-0         0-0-0

Rushing-yards             34-117     54-217

Passing yards                11               0

Total yards                   128            217

Fumbles                        5-2            2-0

Penalties                       1-15          3-26

Punts                            2-27.5      2-26.5

Individual statistics

Rushing

Jacobs – Wright 18-76, Dale Cook 7-37, Zach Bates 2-6, Jason Judson 5-1, Emond Crosby 1-3, Nate Anderson 1-0.

Huntley – Marcus Popenfoose 7-26, Kleckner 27-133, Tim Lycos 10-28, Larkin 5-21, Mark Sallee 2-9.

Passing

Jacobs – Judson 1-3-0-11.

Huntley – None

Receiving

Jacobs – Cook 1-11.

Huntley -- None