The big question facing Prairie Ridge when it traveled to McHenry Friday was whether it would have a letdown after snapping Cary-Grove’s 29-game Fox Valley Conference winning streak last week.
But after scoring on their first two possessions, the Wolves left little doubt. Prairie Ridge (3-0) smoked McHenry (2-1) 38-19.
Sam Campbell rushed for three touchdowns and 113 yards on 14 carries while quarterback Bryan Bradshaw gave the visitors balance. He completed 9 of 17 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns passes. The 1-2 offensive punch was too much for the Warriors.
“We wanted to come out and prove that we weren’t lucky last week against Cary-Grove and that we were a good team,” Bradshaw said. “Getting that early lead was big.”
Campbell got Prairie Ridge rolling in the opening period. His 28-yard run gave the Wolves a first-and-goal at the McHenry 6. Two plays later he smashed over from 5 yards at 10:28. On the visitors’ next possession, Campbell’s 38-yard punt return set up his 4-yard score, four plays later at 7:39 of the first quarter.
“Right off the bat we got those scores,” Campbell said. “We wanted to show our offense couldn’t be stopped.”
After Wolves kicker Cullen Fahey nailed a 27-yard field goal at 10:56 of the second quarter to make it a 17-0 advantage, the Warriors finally got on the board. Mark D’Angelo did the honors, taking the kickoff 99 yards for the score 18 seconds later.
Prairie Ridge shrugged it off and moments later it was Bradshaw taking the Wolves into the end zone through the air. The junior quarterback hooked up with wide receiver Jeff Simak on an 80-yard scoring play. It came at 9:33 of the second quarter to make it 24-7.
“We worked hard and just did our job,” middle linebacker Zach Zuldema said.
