Red Raiders turned back in 2nd round loss
HUNTLEY — Huntley advanced to its fifth second round playoff clash in school football history and hoped a large following would witness a quarterfinal round bid.
St. Ignatius College Prep, seeded 24th, achieved its second straight playoff upset with a 35-23 win over the eighth-seed Red Raiders in the Class 8A second round game in Chicago on Nov. 3.
The Red Raiders ended the season at 9-2, but battled to the final buzzer. HHS scored its final points on a Braylon Bower 20-yard touchdown pass to senior Jacob Witt with three minutes left. But the two-point conversion try was missed as well as the on-side kick, and the Wolfpack (8-3) held on.
Bower, a junior, scored on a one-yard touchdown run to start the scoring in the first quarter and a threw 29-yard pass to senior Omare Segarra for a 21-17 deficit in the fourth quarter as well as one to Jacob Witt. His longest completions included a 35-yard pass to Witt which led to a field goal by Talon Sargent.
Bower finished the game 14 of 25 passing for 201 yards as HHS out-gained St. Ignatius, 357-252 yards. Senior runner Haiden Janke concluded his career with a 156-yard night.
“Bower and Janke both played their hearts out,” Huntley coach Mike Naymola said. “The entire team left everything on the field and we walked off with pride knowing we played our hardest. We missed some chances but that’s the way it went. I’m proud of the way they fought until the very end.”
Defensive highlights came on a key fumble recovery from senior Zach Rysavy (four solo tackles, two assists) which was started by a hit by sophomore Ben Wean.
Defense leaders were senior Zack Garifo, six solo tackles, three assists, two tackles for loss. Sophomore Ryan Wabel contributed five solo tackles and one assist; junior Carter Pope had four solos and three assists; senior Ryan Sweeney had five solos and three assists and junior Grant Tucker, one forced fumble.
Naymola pointed to one key moment just before halftime when a penalty negated a Red Raiders touchdown pass from Bower to Witt and a controversial penalty call in the second half.
“That (pass to Witt) would have given us a 17-14 lead at halftime. The ridiculous unnecessary roughness call on Garifo on third down and 14 that gave them a new set of downs. I still can’t explain why it was called. Our defense had its moments and gave the offense chances but we did not capitalize in some important moments,” Naymola said.
“There is a reason you win and lose close games, sadly we were on the other side of things Friday,” the head coach said. “Our offense let a few opportunities slip away in the red zone and that ultimately cost us from 17-21 points. That was very uncharacteristic of us not to finish drives, but credit to St. Ignatius for playing solid red zone defense, too.”
