Describe your youth football career, how has the Class of 2025 stayed together.

Tucker: “Most of us started in Huntley youth football and a very few of us played for other towns simultaneously. I played for the
Gilbert Grizzles for a couple of years and then switched to flag football for the Huntley Park District until I reached high school.

Two overtimes were needed before the Red Raiders outlasted South Elgin, 3-2, Oct. 26 for their Class 3A Regional title at Red Raider Stadium. Huntley advanced to the Streamwood Sectional where they will fsce Hampshire, at 6 p.m. Oct. 30.

"Playing a team that fights against us that hard should really help us movie forward. Max Connell was on it in the overtimes, he showed up at the right time.

The Red Raiders' group, which includes four college-bound players in multiple sports, have had a decorated resume. They have been part of teams with three Fox Valley Conference titles in a row, two sectional crowns, and three regional winning teams.

“It feels overwhelming, we've been together for four years, and we've become extremely close,” senior Sienna Robertson said.

Robertson is unique in the Class of 2025 athletes, as she will chose to pursue volleyball or track and field throws.

Gassner, 6-foot-2 inches, 200-pounds, is one of 22 seniors on the HHS 2024 football team. He answered questions about his career for My Huntley News, ahead of the senior night game with Burlington Central at Red Raider Stadium Oct. 25.

How did your group get started in football?

Gassner: “A lot of us got started together freshman year as a whole group but there were a lot of us that have been playing since youth football with each other.

Quarterback Braylon Bower had thrown three touchdown passes and ran for another in the win which gave HHS a 5-3, 5-3 record and one win away from a secured playoff spot. Bower rushed for three touchdowns and 116 yards and passed for one score to Jordan Oruche.

Sloan just missed the cut for the IHSA Girls Golf Class 2A State Tournament, losing out on the playoff hole by one shot with a sectional round of 84.

“I was really nervous when I learned I had to do a playoff hole,” Sloan said. “I have never been in that position before so it really brought out the competitive side of me.

Isabella Ciesla took first place in the girls race and Tommy Nitz did the same in the boys run. The Red Raiders girls team brought home the FVC team championship at Hickory Nut Grove Highlands in Cary Oct. 19.

Nitz beat 16 minutes in his final Fox Valley Conference race, for his third league race title. Nitz ended at 15:23 for three miles.

Ari Patel and Julie Klockner were 3-1 at the Huntley Sectional while teammates Kate Burkey and Ella Doughty were 2-1. The IHSA state tournament is Oct. 24-26 hosted by Hersey High School and surrounding sites.

HHS tennis coach Barry Wells summed up the two advancing doubles' team's tournaments.

“Last year we only qualified one doubles team (to state) so we're very happy to get both teams to state this year,” Wells said.

The Chargers come in with a 2-5, 2-5 Fox Valley Conference record while HHS is 4-3, 4-3. D-C's wins came over Crystal Lake South and Hampshire.

"We know we have to win out to make the playoffs,” HHS coach Mike Naymola said. “We have to play well to earn another seven days, because we know only a few weeks of football are guaranteed.”

The Red Raiders just beat the darkness Oct. 11 at Crystal Lake Central, but had outlasted eight other league teams and won all seven titles in singles and doubles brackets. Huntley won the tournament for the fifth straight year with 61 points to runner-up Cary-Grove's 49.

Now the squad hopes to keep the momentum going strong when the Class 2A Sectional comes to Huntley's courts Oct.

The trait was on display as the Red Raiders outlasted Crystal Lake South, 2-1, in Fox Valley Conference action Oct. 15. After a 26-28 loss, Huntley won 25-10, 25-11. The meant another 20-win season for HHS, the 10th straight in full seasons. Huntley, 20-7, was 13-2 FVC with three loop matches left.

“The main thing now is to play well in FVC matches so we don't have to share the title,” coach Karen Naymola said.

Huntley senior Maddie Sloan fought for the 10th and final individual spot and ended with a round of 84. She finished one spot from a state bid as Wheaton North's Ariana Savenok won the playoff hole at Atwood Homestead Golf Course in Rockford Oct. 8.

Huntley girls golf coach Lindsey Allen described Sloan's round.

“Sloan had a great sectional,” Allen said.

Senior Taig Bhathal had the best round of an HHS golfer as he shot a 78 for 33rd place.

Also for the Red Raiders: junior Grey Birkmeier fired an 80 for second on the HHS team, 45th overall; junior Jack Policheri and sophomore Carson Elder both turned in a score of 83, for 60th; junior Austin Matich had an 84 for 66th while soph Nate Haisch's 89 for 85th rounded out the scoring.

The Scots continued to rise in  NJCAA Division II ranking to 13th and the Scots outlasted a key Skyway Conference foe.

The Scots include Huntley resident Amanda Schaffer, one of the team's setters and Huntley alumna Emily Willis, an outside hitter. MCC, 22-2 overall, 6-0 Skyway Conference, edged Skyway rival Moraine Valley by a 3-2 sets score. The Scots won 25-21, lost two sets, 25-23 and 25-21 but bounced back with 25-22, 18-16 victories Oct.

The Red Raiders' depth was tested by an injury and Prairie Ridge, a team which came into an Oct. 8 match with a shared 10-2 FVC lead and a six-game win streak. Host Huntley eventually prevailed, 25-21, 19-25, 25-14.

With the win, Huntley opened a lead at 11-2 FVC, over Prairie Ridge and Hampshire's 10-3 records.

The injury was to Huntley junior setter Abby Whitehouse, who had to miss the third set.

Huntley improved to 4-2 Fox Valley Conference, 4-2 overall ahead of a key clash with league leader Cary-Grove Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at Red Raider Stadium.

Quarterback Braylon Bower ran for three touchdowns and threw for another as Huntley put together a 21-0 second half spree against the Gators.

"I found out with about five minutes before the match I would be starting," Reynolds said.

It was last season's sectional after Huntley had won a share of the Fox Valley Conference title, a Class 3A regional championship and faced Elgin at Round Lake. Elgin prevailed 4-1.

Reynolds is now settled in as the Red Raiders' top goalie.

"I feel a lot more confident now," Reynolds said.

Numbers tell the achievements for the Red Raiders, now 3-2 overall, 3-2 FVC after a 29-22 win at Hampshire Sept. 27. Jordan Oruche caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Braylon Bower with four minutes left for the final margin last Friday.

HHS's passing attack is led by senior quarterback Bower.

The former Red Raiders bring the total of recent alumni currently at McHenry County College to 10. The Scots' ladies are in the midst of their Skyway Conference season (2-1 record, 4-1  overall and ranked third in the region) while the men are preparing for next spring's season. Hibbeler and Stec were both selected as team captain.

Maddie Sloan tallied an 82 stroke total, 40 front nine, 42 back nine, for fourth place Sept. 25. Sophomore Kinsey Hayes shot an 47-42, 85 and was 10th. The Red Raiders finished fourth in team standings with a 377 team score in the meet won by Crystal Lake Central Co-op.