Huntley still in playoff hunt

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CARPENTERSVILLE – Needing two victories to have a chance at the postseason, Huntley coach Steve Graves let his two bruising running backs carry the offensive load.

Seniors Brett Kleckner and Marcus Popenfoose powered the visiting Red Raiders (4-4 overall, 1-3 FVC Valley Division) to a 40-20 win against Dundee-Crown (1-7, 0-4).

Kleckner and Popenfoose combined for 241 rushing yards and four touchdowns before being pulled early in the fourth quarter.

“We wanted to make sure we crossed the goal line tonight with our most important assets, which were those two big backs,” Graves said.

The Red Raiders ran the ball 10 consecutive plays to start the game.

Kleckner rushed for a 77-yard touchdown to put the Red Raiders up, 14-0, late in the first quarter, and D-C had no answer for Huntley’s run-oriented offense.

“That’s been an area of concern all year, we’ve had a hard time stopping the run,” D-C coach Mike Davis said. “I figured that’s what they’d do, they’d run it till we stopped it and we really didn’t, so that’s the way it went.”

Trailing 27-0 in the third quarter, the Chargers got on the board when junior quarterback Tanner Kotlan found senior tight end Geoff Clifford for a four-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-7.

Popenfoose ran for a 28-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

“[Offensive linemen] did their job tonight,” said Kleckner, who finished with 177 rushing yards on 15 carries. “It wasn’t too hard to see the holes and the cutback lanes.”

D-C junior running back Danny Sharp’s touchdown catch as time expired.