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Streaks grab share of title
The rain soaked everyone in attendance at Friday's matchup between Crystal Lake Central and Woodstock High School. But that didn't stop the Blue Streaks from dumping a cooler of ice water over head coach Steve Beard following Woodstock's 37-36 victory over the Tigers. The win clinched a share of the Fox Valley Conference-Fox Division championship for CLC. The last time WHS won a conference championship was 1997, a season that ended with a state championship title on a pass interception by Craig Kastning, who was in attendance at Friday night's game. While the Streaks have a long road ahead of them if they want to repeat what Kastning and his teammates did 12 years ago, the victory Friday night was a step in the right direction. Following Woodstock's 60-6 homecoming loss to FVC-Valley Division champion Cary-Grove, Beard challenged his team to win the team's remaining conference games. The Streaks answered the call by defeating all of the remaining FVC teams on their schedule, losing only to non-conference LaSalle-Peru in that stretch. "We went back to the fundamentals after Cary-Grove, and then we got a little confidence after beating Grayslake North and Huntley in a close game," said Beard. "Building on the fundamentals and the confidence we gained from a few wins just sort of steamrolled us to here tonight." The Streaks looked overmatched early in the game, unable to move the ball and unable to hold onto the ball in the rain and mud, but a late second-quarter push allowed WHS to go into the half tied with CLC at 16. "I was fumbling the ball a bit (in the first half), and I told coach at halftime, 'We have to switch to shotgun (formation),'" Streaks senior quarterback Logan Kunzie said after the game. "Coach Beard was a little worried that it would limit our run game, but I felt it was the only way we were going to be able to (win)." The adjustment helped a lot. Kunzie completed 17 of his 25 passes in the second half, and the Streaks scored three touchdowns on passes in the third quarter. With a 29-16 lead, it appeared as though WHS would take control of the game. However, a 75-yard touchdown run by Tigers runningback Ryan Hines rallied CLC back into the game. In fact, the Tigers managed to take the lead before another touchdown pass from Kunzie to senior Mike Kremske put WHS up 37-30 leading up to the final game-deciding drive by the Tigers. CLC ran the ball down the field and scored on a two-yard touchdown run by Hines with just 48 seconds left, bringing them to within one point of tying the game. Without their regular kicker, Central had not attempted to kick an extra point all night but had success with 2-point conversions. Down by just one point, though, fans waited eagerly to see if CLC would go for the tie or the victory. Beard said his Streaks knew what to expect. "We knew going (into the game) they weren't going to kick, we knew they were going to go for two at the end," Beard said. The Streaks' goal-line defense rose to the occasion and stopped Tigers running back Gage Harrah less than a yard short of the winning score. "This is a conference championship," said Beard. "You hope you're in a position to be here at the end of the season, and tonight we tied with Crystal Lake Central. This hasn't happened since '97. One in every 12 seasons. That's special for Woodstock." Phone: 815-338-8040 | inde@thewoodstockindependent.com | Fax: 815-338-8177 |