McHenry running back Nick Guardyak had a remarkable evening that was only fitting for his team’s remarkable comeback Friday.
The 14th-ranked Warriors erased a 17-point fourth-quarter Woodstock lead to win their 37th consecutive Fox Valley Conference game. Before a standing-room-only home crowd of more than 3,000, McHenry stayed perfect this season at 6-0 with a 42-38 victory.
Guardyak, a 5-foot-8-inch, 165-pound senior, scored six touchdowns, three in the final quarter, including the winner–an 8-yard run with 1 minute 55 seconds left in a meeting between two teams that had yet to lose this season. He finished with 198 yards in 32 carries and overshadowed the performance of Woodstock quarterback Justin Duhai, who went over the 5,000-yard mark in passing for his high school career.
Guardyak also made the play that turned this game around. With McHenry down 38-28 and 9:10 left, Steve Adams went for the onside kick. Woodstock (5-1) mishandled it and Guardyak pounced on the ball.
He finished off a five-play, 48-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown run and Woodstock–though still on top 38-35–was reeling.
“Woodstock shut me down good,” Guardyak said of his problems early in this game. “The fumble recovery was the turning point. We got the momentum back and there was no stopping us.”
Woodstock went backward on its next possession, and after a Duhai punt, the Warriors went on a 13-play, 70-yard scoring drive for the winning touchdown. It was Guardyak’s 19th TD of the season.
Woodstock took a 38-21 lead on Grant Fredricksen’s 53-yard run with 11:48 left. He bowled over a McHenry tackler at the 7-yard line and the Blue Streaks were streaking. That was his third touchdown of the evening. He had scored on runs of 5 and 14 yards.
And Duhai had done his part. He and his teammates wiped out the memory of Woodstock’s last two debacles against McHenry–56-14 and 56-13 losses–in the first half by leading the Blue Streaks to a 28-14 lead.
Duhai completed 21-of-37 passes for 264 yards to give him 5,008 yards for his career. He scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards.
