McHenry County notes: Cary-Grove doing what it does in IHSA postseason, winning

Cary-Grove has produced a remarkable playoff history since its first trip to a state championship game in 2004.

The Trojans have been particularly impressive since 2018, a stretch in which they have lost only one game, a 14-13 setback to Prairie Ridge in the Class 6A 2019 playoff quarterfinals.

In that span, C-G is 14-1 in playoff games and it carries a seven-game postseason winning streak into Saturday’s 1 p.m. 6A quarterfinal game against Geneva at C-G’s Al Bohrer Field.

Geneva is the No. 7 seed in the Class 6A northern bracket, C-G is No. 3. Both teams are 9-2.

The IHSA did not have playoffs after the 2021 spring season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and C-G had its 17-year playoff string, the longest current streak among area teams, halted last season.

The Trojans beat Crete-Monee for the 2018 state championship and defeated East St. Louis for the 2021 title.

“We had that great run of winning first-round games and making it to the quarterfinals,” Trojans coach Brad Seaburg said after Saturday’s 49-29 win over Highland Park. “I told them, ‘Don’t ever take anything for granted.’ Getting to the playoffs, getting to the quarters … because we saw what happened last year. It’s great to be back there.”

Linebacker Connor Anderson started for the 2021 state champions as a sophomore.

“It’s always our goal to make it all the way,” Anderson said. “If we’re bumped out we feel like we didn’t do enough to get there. Getting it done today, it’s a good feeling.”

This is the 15th time in 19 seasons [with playoffs] that C-G will be in the quarterfinals.

The loss to Prairie Ridge in 2019 was notable because the Trojans lost to the Wolves 42-7 in the regular season. On a muddy Prairie Ridge field, C-G fullback Blake Skol, unhindered by the sloppy field, ran for 197 yards, and C-G almost knocked its rival out of the playoffs.

Crazy numbers: C-G running back Andrew Prio was up to his usual antics Saturday as he carried eight times for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Prio had touchdown runs of 72 and 27 yards and also had a 44-yard run.

For the season, Prio has 1,044 yards on 67 carries, a 15.6-yard average per carry, and 12 rushing touchdowns.

C-G’s offense has been almost unstoppable with at least 41 points in five of its past six games and 49 in each of its two playoff games.

“This team has gotten better, especially the offensive unit,” Seaburg said. “Because even though we returned a lot of guys, we were still really young. We’ve improved throughout the year. Sometimes we have a lot of seniors and will be clicking right away, but every week the unit has improved, and it’s been really fun to see.”

Successful Red Raiders: Mike Naymola is 17-4 in his first two seasons as Huntley’s head coach after Friday’s 35-23 Class 8A second-round playoff loss to St. Ignatius.

The Red Raiders played the Wolfpack tight, but had a few too many mistakes against a tough CCL-ESCC opponent. Still, another 8-1 regular season, this time with a Fox Valley Conference runner-up, along with a first-round playoff win, is something to celebrate.

“We accomplished so much,” running back Haiden Janke said. “At the first of the year we talked about our goals and we wanted to go to the playoffs, we wanted to make it farther than last year. We wanted to just keep going.”

Janke, a four-year varsity player, ran for 144 yards in the loss, putting him at 2,784 for his career, third on the Raiders’ all-time rushing list behind 2018 graduate Eric Mooney (3,883) and 2009 grad Jordan Neukirch (2,966). Janke’s 1,369 yards is first in area rushing this season, although C-G’s Logan Abrams (1,251) has the benefit of still playing.

Tough break: Just before halftime in Huntley’s game Friday, one of the prettiest plays of the season was wiped out by a holding penalty on the Raiders.

Quarterback Braylon Bower rolled right and threw on the run to the back of the end zone where wide receiver Jake Witt leaped for the catch and tapped his toes inside the back out-of-bounds line.

The perfect throw and catch would have given the Raiders a 17-14 lead at halftime with a successful extra point.

Schremp retires: Prairie Ridge coach Chris Schremp announced he has resigned as coach after an amazing 22-year stint in which the Wolves were 187-64 (a .745 winning percentage), won three Class 6A state titles (2011, 2016 and 2017) and had two other 6A runner-up finishes.

Schremp has been thinking about it for some time and hopes to be the Wolves’ new athletic director. Prairie Ridge AD Mark Gilbert is retiring after the 2023-24 school year.

[ Read more: Prairie Ridge’s Chris Schremp steps down as coach, looking for AD position ]

Schremp knew in high school at Westchester St. Joseph that he wanted to coach football and some day be an athletic director. He has worked for 10 years as Gilbert’s assistant AD in winter and spring seasons.

“I saw at St. Joe’s, our athletic director George Strnad, and everybody respected him so much,” Schremp said. “I saw how much he was respected by the people in school. I’ve known this has been a path that I wanted to be on for a while.

“I still have to go through the interview process [at Prairie Ridge]. They have to find who the best person is, and I hope that’s me. Prairie Ridge is a school that I’m very passionate about, and I see what my daughters got out of this. I hope to create more experiences like that for other kids.”

Schremp was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021.