It was already clear the 2024 Trojans could fight back following Cary-Grove’s comeback victory of 18-12 over Prairie Ridge two weeks ago. But that fight was truly going to be put to the test against Huntley as the Trojans fell down 22-7 (on the road, nonetheless) to the Red Raiders with 7:28 until the first half concluded.
At this point, the CG defense was reeling, having allowed two touchdowns on the first three Raider possessions, the first coming after a strong, methodical drive from Huntley, and the second score coming on a third-and-11 dot to the back of the CG endzone. The Trojans offense went three-and-out on their first drive, had to punt on their second drive due to fumbles, and scored their first points on a three-play drive set up by a special teams spark by senior running back Landon Barnett.
That 22-7 deficit wasn’t something seen so far this season for the Trojans, but they weren’t worried. CG had the confidence to climb out of the large hole, and that confidence brought results.
“The message was, ‘We got this,’” senior tight end Luca Vivaldelli said. “We have trust in our team and our defense, and we knew they were going to come through, especially at the end there. Our offense has been so great all year, and we just executed.”
The results started to take form once the Trojans got possession of the football down 22-7, taking a six-play drive to paydirt on a Peyton Seaburg QB run from 11-yards out. The third play of the Red Raiders’ ensuing drive was an interception by junior Jason Ritter, as Cary-Grove took over at the Huntley 27. Following a decisive fourth-down conversion by the legs of Peyton Seaburg down to the Raiders’ 11, senior running back Landon Barnett took a pitch and helped the Trojans get within a point of a tie game, at 22-21 Huntley.
The Raiders took a 15-play drive down to the Trojans’ 26 as the first half was winding down, but a field goal with 1.6 seconds left in the first half was short of the uprights.
As for the second half, the CG offense wasn’t able to capitalize on the first possession of the third to grab their first lead, as the Trojans went three-and-out following a second big kick return by Landon Barnett.
The defense wasn’t able to stop the Raiders on the other end, as a six-play drive by Huntley was capped off by a long touchdown run of 67 yards by the Red Raiders’ Ari Fiebig (#49 of Huntley, according to MaxPreps).
At 29-21, Huntley had the momentum back, but the Trojans said “anything you can do, I can do better” a single play into CG’s next drive. Senior running back Holden Boone got the game within two points on a touchdown run of 80 yards, and the ensuing two-point try, a pass from Peyton Seaburg to Luca Vivaldelli, was converted to tie things up.
However, a double-digit drive (15 plays in total, extended due to penalties) for the Raiders came next, and the Huntley offense took back the lead after a touchdown, the game now standing at 36-29 Red Raiders with a bit under two minutes to go until the fourth quarter. The third quarter concluded after a Cary-Grove punt on fourth-and-19 yards, and very quickly (in six plays) the Huntley offense once again moved down the field, flipping their 30-yard line to the CG 30-yard line.
Eventually, another touchdown pass was notched by Huntley, their lead now growing to 43-29 with 6:16 left in the contest. The execution of the CG offense alluded to by Luca Vivaldelli started to shine following the touchdown by the Raiders, as the Trojans took a seven-play possession to paydirt in two minutes and 31 seconds, Huntley’s lead now being trimmed to 43-36, with the clock reading 3 minutes, 45 seconds in the fourth to go.
The defense for CG had to make things happen the next drive for the Raiders, or else the game was going to go to Huntley. Cary-Grove made things happen, forcing a three-and-out on the Red Raiders.
When asked about what caused the momentum to switch to the Trojans sideline, Coach Seaburg cited those two earlier notables (touchdown, defensive stop) as the primary reasons.
“It was the score and then forcing the punt,” Coach Seaburg said. “We were really having a hard time stopping them tonight, and we were able to make plays when we needed to.”
Once the CG defense gave the offense for the Trojans a chance to get themselves ever-so-closer to completing a second come-from-behind effort of the night, Cary-Grove’s troops didn’t disappoint. The Trojans punched in a touchdown three plays into their ensuing drive when Seaburg connected with senior tight end Quintin Witt* for a touchdown pass. Moments later, CG took their first lead of the night on a Seaburg pass for the two-point conversion.
“We broke some tackles, we ran hard, we blocked hard, and we were able to finish some drives,” Coach Seaburg said of the offensive turnaround overall. “Kids just did a great job.”
On the ensuing drive for the Raiders, Huntley gained an early offensive boost as they were driving down the field with 1:22 in the game showing on the clock prior to the drive, fifteen seconds later being where the Raiders offense were situated (1:07 in the game, first down at Huntley’s own 41). Three plays later, the CG defense responded, stopping the Red Raiders after a lengthy fourth-down effort from quarterback Braylon Bower of Huntley, the ensuing pass falling incomplete in the middle of the field. Following a rough and draining day at the office for the CG defense, they came up clutch in the biggest plays.
“We just got them into some tougher down and distances,” Coach Seaburg said of the defense. “We were just fortunate to get a stop there.”
“They just fought all game,” Luca Vivaldelli said of the defense.
Cary-Grove keeps their undefeated record going after a tough, gritty win over the potent Huntley squad, with the Trojans next facing off against Crystal Lake South to conclude the second of back-to-back road contests, with the playoffs looming right at the start of November.
“Just gives us a bunch of confidence,” Luca Vivaldelli said of the win. “We didn’t get these [types] of results last year. We lost to [Huntley] on the last play of the game, same with PR.
“It’s hard to get wins in [the] Fox Valley, I know [CL South] is gonna give us a fight,” Vivaldelli concluded.
“We’re 7-0, and we got a lot of work to do, but we’re 7-0,” Coach Seaburg said.
*Correction: An earlier version of the story misidentified the receiver on the touchdown pass.