Prairie Ridge Hammers Crystal Lake South

By early in the fourth quarter on Saturday, the home folks from got it—the winning streak and the great football season was coming to a close.

And then the stands began to empty, except for those fans on the side. They were still cheering.

The Wolves (11-1) will head to the IHSA Class 6A semifinals next Saturday after positively thumping previously unbeaten Crystal Lake South 37-10.

The Wolves defensive backfield made South quarterback Drew Ormseth's life miserable—Matt Mugnai picked off a pair of Ormseth's passes and PR corner back John Borst also had a interception.

The Wolves took the lead on the game's first play and never looked back.

"They are some pretty athletic kids,'' said PR head coach Chris Shremp."They were just flying around the ball.''

Of course the stands were packed to open this town clash. And those fans watched as sophomore Jordan Getzelman bolted 75 yards with the first carry of the game for a quick six points.

"We've been lucky to start fast,'' Shremp said. "I thought this might be a good matchup.''

Still it was anyone's game after one quarter. Crystal Lake South kicker Bolek Mikulec booted a 36-yard field goal to cut the PR lead to 6-3. But then the Wolves defense began to make plays. John Borst's interception led to Nick Margiotta's 34-yard field goal in the second quarter. Borst also credited Mother Nature with some help.

"The wind was our 12th man on the field,'' Borst said. "We were just playing on our island and when we had trouble Devon Vance (free safety) made the play.''

The third quarter was particularly disappointing to South. The offense produced no points and Mugnai's first pick ended the half with his team up 17-3.

Another long run from Getzelman (44 yards) set up QB Stephen Covalt's 12-yard scoring pass to Margiotta. Covalt ran in the two-point conversion and PR took that two touchdown advantage to the fourth quarter.

If there was any hope of a South comeback it was dashed on the first play of the fourth quarter. Covalt and Sean Valentine teamed up on a 35-yard pass play that put the ball deep into South territory. Connor Greenwald soon took it in from two yards out to make it 24-3.

The home team did have one more touchdown drive left—Mikulek bolted in from the five-yard line to pull the Gators within two touchdowns. But the Wolves responded when Covalt ripped off a 47-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach.

Crystal Lake South coach Chuck Ahsmann gave full credit to Prairie Ridge.

"They played very well,'' Ahsmann said. "And we made a lot of mistakes. We had too many penalties. I told the kids one play could make a difference in this game. I'm still very proud of the kids for their work both in and out of school.''

Greenwald had the game's last score when he scored from three yards out.

Prairie Ridge will take on Rockford Boylan next Saturday.

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