Sports
Cary-Grove Ends Central's Season
Trojans use two Baker touchdowns to get 17-7 win over Tigers in Class 6A first round game.
and High Schools are separated by only about six miles.
On Friday night, the Tigers and Trojans faced off in the first round of the IHSA Class 6A football playoffs. C-G quarterback Quinn Baker scored twice as sixth-seeded Cary advanced with a hard-fought 17-7 win at Al Bohrer Field over the No. 11 Tigers.
C-G (8-2) will go on the road next week to face either No. 3 seed Nazareth or No. 14 Deerfield.
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Cary got on the scoreboard first with a six-minute drive that finished with Baker going in from a yard out to give C-G a 7-0 lead.
Central responded four minutes later on a 60-yard run up the middle by Matt MacAlpine to tie the game at 7 going into the second quarter.
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The Trojans would take the lead for good just under a minute into the second as after a Central fumble, Baker scored from 17 yards out as C-G took a 14-7 lead into the half.
Josh Buckingham kicked a 30-yard field goal late in the third quarter to add the final points of the night.
Central tried to respond, using a fake punt and a halfback option pass from Steven Rios to Nick Marchetti that bounced off Marchetti before being caught by Marchetti while being on the ground.
After the long option play, Tyler Fehring attempted a 37-yard field goal but slipped on his approach and missed the kick.
Baker finished the game with 69 yards rushing on 24 carries as both teams played a strong defensive game with just 369 yards of offense between the two teams.
said that the Trojan defense played one of their best games of the season.
“They played great,” Seaburg said. “They have been improving the last three weeks and have been playing really dominant. We kind of anticipated two very good defenses playing against each other, we were fortunate to get the turnover and the quick score.”
MacAlpine finished with 80 yards leading Central on the evening, who finished the season at 6-4 and Coach Matt Fralick said his defense was instrumental in the success that the Tigers had this year.
“The defense has played great all year long, kept us in games. I can’t say enough about them this season,” Fralick said.
