Goal-line stand paves way for Huntley victory
Huntley kept its spot atop the Fox Valley Conference football standings as the Red Raiders’ goal-line stand in the final 10 seconds turned back Cary-Grove for a 17-14 victory Sept. 30. HHS is 5-1, 5-1, FVC, tied with Prairie Ridge and Jacobs, heading into a homecoming clash with Hampshire Friday.
The victory over the Trojans (3-3, 3-3 FVC) came down to the final C-G possession, a march of 60 yards inside the HHS 10. Then HHS came up with the needed stops. First sophomore defensive back Ari Fiebig tackled the Trojans’ Andrew Prio, at the 7-yard line. Then junior Markos Mihalopoulos’s tackle stuffed a running play and time expired.
“We trusted each other,” HHS senior linebacker and captain Joey Arvidson said. “We all rallied to the ball.”
Fiebig, a sophomore, has been a quick study in his position of corner back.
“Fiebig has been a work in progress all year, as he is new to the cornerback position, ” HHS head coach Mike Naymola said. “He has tremendous upside with a great work ethic. He is a very physical player that we are happy to see on our side of the ball. He has started all year for us.”
Other standouts throughout the game included senior James Lang who had two fumble recoveries, one on defense and one on special teams and senior Liam Manning contributed one fumble recovery. Deshaun Manning had a double digit night for tackles with 10. “He’s been a tackling machine,” Naymola said of Deshaun Manning.
“Zach Garifo (junior) was the hero of the day, having two touchdown saving tackles, one of which saved the day for us along with six other tackles,” Naymola said.
Naymola has utmost respect for the Trojans’ program, which achieved state championships three times in the past 13 seasons, including last season in Class 6A.
“Cary-Grove is the standard in the state and in the area,” Naymola said. “We work on getting better each week and we did not want to have a let down after a big win over Jacobs last week. We did a nice job of focus all week. We were able to flip field position because early on we had our backs against the wall. We had some injuries during the week and again tonight but use the ‘next guy up’ mentality.”
Huntley’s standouts on offense at Cary-Grove’s Al Bohrer Field included some different players as well as mainstays.
After a 20-yard field goal by Mason Wojtas cut a Trojan lead to 7-3, Logan Mikutis, a junior, carried it in from 15 yards out and a 10-7 HHS halftime lead. Lang’s fumble recovery led to a red zone chance for the Red Raiders that ultimately decided the game. Senior running back Zach Rios (seven carries, 31 yards) finished the drive with a two-yard TD run for a 17-7 third quarter Huntley lead. Leading rusher Haiden Janke finished with 79 yards rushing on 19 carries of the team’s 223 total yards.
Hampshire game
Naymola said the Red Raiders will be well-prepared to play the Whips, 0-6, 0-6 FVC, Oct. 7 at Red Raider Stadium for homecoming. The Whips feature running back Cole Klawikowski.
“Hampshire plays a physical style of football,” Naymola said. “Their talent is not an indicator of their record. We better be ready to go or they can beat us. They have played nearly every game close. We won’t be overlooking them. Their running back (Klawikowski) us very talented and they have some great size among their entire offensive-defensive linemen and linebackers.”
