Opportunistic Elgin upsets Larkin for jug

Elgin High School's Hector Hernandez (center front) mimics drinking from the town jug with teammates after their victory at Elgin High School in Elgin on Saturday. Elgin High School defeated Larkin High School, winning the town jug.
(Andrew A. Nelles/For The Courier-News)

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ELGIN -- On the field, Elgin's players hoisted their long-sought prize high in the air and chanted "East Side, Maroon Pride."

In the stands, the Maroons faithful chanted "We got the Jug back" and jumped for joy.

It was party time on the east side of town Saturday as Elgin captured the Town Jug for the first time since 2001 with a thrilling 28-21 victory against crosstown rival Larkin at Memorial Field.

The Maroons scored touchdowns on a fumble return, an interception return and a blocked kick return in the second half to turn the tide and stun the Royals, who were looking for a record eighth straight win in the series.

Larkin (3-3, 0-3 Upstate Eight Conference) nearly tripled Elgin's offensive output, gaining 305 yards while holding the Maroons to 124 yards. But Elgin (2-4, 2-1) won the turnover battle 4-2 and most importantly won the game, cutting the Royals all-time lead in the varsity series to 29-18.

"This is the biggest rivalry in high school that I can think of," Elgin junior Jordan Dean said. "It's great taking home the jug, especially after all the years it's been on the west side. To take it back to the east side is the best thing ever."

Dean was at the center of the game's biggest play, which came late in the fourth quarter with Larkin leading 21-20.

Royals kicker Alex Munoz was trying to extend his team's advantage with a 34-yard field goal attempt, but Elgin junior Dan Muenzer shot through the line and blocked the kick. Dean picked up the ball at the Elgin 20-yard line, and after a brief hesitation, took off for an 80-yard touchdown return to put the Maroons ahead 26-21 with 4:09 left.

"I thought the whistle blew," Dean said. "My teammates were telling me to run, so I just took off. I saw a lot of people standing around, but you never now. You just run all the way through and end up with six points."

Quarterback Ryan Parks found Tim Newcombe in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion to put the Maroons ahead 28-21, but the Royals didn't go quietly.

Larkin marched to the Elgin 28-yard line in four plays and faced a third-and-4 with just under 2:00 left when Elgin's Toby Schimel broke through a gap in the line and hit Royals quarterback Kyle Newquist as he handed off to Sylvester Smith, who was promptly dropped for a six-yard loss.

After two Royals timeouts, Newquist connected with junior Trevor Whitehead near the sideline, but Whitehead was tackled out of bounds two yards short of the first down, dashing Larkin's comeback hopes.

"There were crucial points in the game where we had to be able to run the ball and get a first down and they stuffed us because they played hard football," Larkin coach Matt Gehrig said. "There was no trickery. Their kids just dug down deep and played as hard as they could."

Elgin trailed 14-7 at halftime but grabbed the momentum on the second play from scrimmage of the third quarter when senior Craig McKenzie tore the ball out of Larkin senior Jalen Williams' hands and sprinted 26 yards for a game-tying touchdown.

The Maroons came up with another turnover two plays into the ensuing Larkin possession when Demaj Collier intercepted a flea-flicker pass from Newquist. Elgin couldn't capitalize on that break, but pinned the Royals at their own 2-yard line following a punt.

The Maroons wasted no time forcing another turnover as senior Cory Michalik intercepted a pass from Newquist on the second play of the subsequent series and waltzed into the end zone with 10-yard return to put Elgin ahead for the first time at 20-14 with 5:34 left in the third quarter.

"On that play it was just a heavy package in our 5-3 defense," Elgin coach Dave Bierman said. "Cory just did a great job of reading it."

The Royals pulled back ahead 21-20 on their next possession when Williams scored his second touchdown of the day on an 18-yard run to cap an eight-play, 59-yard drive with 11:47 left.

Williams added to his area rushing lead with 151 yards on 32 carries. But it was his younger cousin Dean who got the last laugh.

Dean finished with 100 rushing yards on 17 carries. He provided Elgin's first touchdown with a 55-yard run in the first quarter and after the game was one of the first players to get his hands on the Town Jug.

"What killed us was turnovers and penalties basically," Williams said. "My little cousin got the better half of this one."

Elgin 28, Larkin 21

Larkin    7    7    0    7   --   21

Elgin       0    7   13   8   --   28

LARKIN -- Williams 39 run (Munoz kick), 8:49

LARKIN -- Whitehead 9 pass from Newquist (Munoz kick), 5:24

ELGIN -- Dean 55 run (Satish kick), 4:19

ELGIN -- McKenzie 26 fumble return (Satish kick), 10:51

ELGIN -- Michalik 10 interception return (kick failed), 5:34

LARKIN -- Williams 18 run (Munoz kick), 11:47

ELGIN -- Dean 80 blocked kick return (Newcombe pass from Parks), 4:09

Team statistics           LARKIN         ELGIN

First downs                    16                    5

Comp.-att-int.            9-15-3            2-10-2

Passing yards                 78                   10

Rushing-att-yds.          44-227            25-114

Total yards                    305                  124

Fumbles-lost                  1-1                  0-0

Penalties-yards              4-35                4-45

Individual statistics

Rushing:

Larkin -- Williams 32-151, Smith 10-74, Whitehead 1-10, Newquist 1-(-8).

Elgin -- Dean 17-100, McKenzie 2-24, Michalik 2-1, Parks 5-(-11).

Passing:

Larkin -- Newquist 9-15-3 78.

Elgin -- Parks 2-10-2 10.

Receiving:

Larkin -- Whitehead 6-50, Wahl 2-16, Williams 1-12.

Elgin -- Riggio 1-5, Dean 1-5.