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By Plaindealer sports staff DUNDEE -- It was the biggest win of the year for McHenry's boys' cross-country team. In fact, it was the biggest two wins of the year for the Warrior runners. McHenry surprised both Dundee- Crown and Woodstock in a Fox Val­ ley Conference dual meet at Binnie Woods Forest Preserve Thursday, topping the former 26-30, and the latter 25-33, to move to 3-1 in the FVC. The key? The pack. "Our pack was great today," said a happy Bill Hutchinson, the War­ riors coach. "We were missing one of our top runners, John Chester, who was in an accident, and we still had a great pack." Runners with 'McHenry' embla­ zoned across their chests finished 4- 6-7-9-10 overall to lead the Warriors. Woodstock had the top two finishers, while D-C had numbers three and five, but it wasn't enough to offset the strong MCHS contingent. Senior Terry Harth led the way for McHenry, finishing fourth in 16:31 over the 3-mile layout. Fellow classmate J.R. Wright was right behind in sixth place, at 16:37. Senior Pat Donahue was seventh in 16:38, while sophomore Jeff Zurb- lis was ninth in 16:52 and senior Chad Miller 10th in 17:03, rounding out the Warrior scoring. In addition, McHenry's Scott Shanholtzer and Chris Mumma turned in what Hutchinson termed their best performances of the year, if not ever, finishing 12th and 15th, overall, respectively. "It was really something," Hutch­ inson said. "With Chesler out, and some other problems we've been having, it's super. "Miller ran a super race, his best of the year. And Zurblis was great, too," Hutchinson said. "Shanholtzer got some spikes last week, and he was great, and so was Mumma." If it sounds like Hutchinson was surprised, it's because, well, he was. "Yeah, I'm real surprised. The kids have been improving, running better all the time. But I'll tell ya, I had my doubts. Dundee's beat us before, and Woodstock usually has success against us too. I thought Woodstock would beat Dundee, but they didn't do that, either." The only blemish on the Warriors' conference mark remains a 28-29 loss to Crystal Lake Central last week. The Tigers retained their un­ beaten FVC mark with a one-point win over Jacobs Thursday. "Boy, if we could have beaten Central, that would have been great," said Hutchinson. "But today was a great, surprising win. Two of them." The Warrior girls lost to both schools. Megan Miller was the top MCHS finisher, taking Uth in 14:53 over the two miles. Emily Fornwall was 12th in 15:27, while Kim Yost grabbed 15th, 16:05, Laurie Mroz 16th in 16:18 and Col- u«Uoninr'e i id Wvinkf lent4 °Ti.. 1,i> nnri n.t leen Halloran 17th in 16:22 McHenry S J.R. Wright, Jeff Zurblis and Pat The boys will return to action Sat- Donahue, above, form the bulk of the Warriors' urday at the Palatine invitational. winning pack in a Fox Valley Conference double Surprise! Warriors run past Woodstock, D-C Skyhawks ready for homecoming, R. Lake By Chris Juzwik , Plaindealer sports editor Plaindealer photo by Chris Juzwik Johnsburg hopes quarterback Frank Husak, above, has this much room to operate Saturday, when the Skyhawks host Round Lake. JOHNSBURG -- If you're a Johns­ burg football fan, and this season has enough close games for your pounding already, you may not want to hear what Mike Roberts has to say. "I think it's going to be a low- scoring, close, hard-fought game," the JHS head coach said of his team's Saturday date with Round Lake. "Round Lake is a big, ball-control- . They Uke m JwfcpJt on the grouhd," control the ball, sustain long drives. Neither team is going to have the ball too many times." The Panthers are 2-2 overall, but 2-0 in the Northwest Suburban Con­ ference, tied lead with Mar­ ian Central,-whicnaealt JHS a 19-16 defeat a week ago. The Skyhawks are 1-1 in the league. "This is an important game," Roberts said, "no question about it. And I feel really good about -this game. For the first time, this confer­ ence is up for grabs. If we can get Round Lake, that will put us right back in the picture. I feel as optimis­ tic about this game as any of the other four we've played," he added. "It would be easy for the school and the players to get down about being 1-3. But the kids know we're not out of it. We've made errors, and if we do that Saturday, it will be tough to win. But we're ready." Johnsburg will also have the homecoming factor play an impor­ tant part in the contest. "It's a positive thing for us. We've had all sorts of organizations getting the kids up, and it's got to help us." Senior fullback and linebacker Dan Stqfka will probably miss the game due to a bruised kianey. But backfield mate John Kegel is 100 peecent, according to Roberts, and will start. "We had two of the best practices we've had all year the last couple of nights," Roberts said. "If we can play like we've practiced, we'll be okay. This game will be won in the trenches. We've made some adjust­ ments, and the kids have picked it up real well. ' "As a team, I believe we're start­ ing to gel. We'll be able to know more after Saturday," he added. The two teams will square off at 1 p.m. .,•4, McHenry, Si. Ed's on collision course By Chris Juzwik Plaindealer sports editor McHENRY -- There will be a host of high school football teams bat­ tling it out this weekend for top spots in their respective conferences. There will also be a game held in Elgin that won't make much differ­ ence in the conference standings. But if you think it won't be a good game, you'd better think again. McHenry will travel south on Route 31 for a non-conference meet­ ing with Elgin St. Edward. The War­ riors are 0-4 on the year, the Green Wave 0-3. Something has to give. "This is a big game," said McHeh- ry coach Joe Schlender. "Two teams who really want to win going at each other. One will, one won't. "At this point in the season, we're perfect for each other. Both teams feel this is the week, I'm sure," Schlender said. The Warriors are coming off back- to-back thrashings, first a 41-0 de­ feat at Crystal Lake South, followed by last week's 38-6 devastation by Crystal Lake Central. "We hope this is the week for us," Schlender said. "We've got home­ coming next week, and we'd like to get a modest win skein going right now." .x v But first-year St. Ed coach Paul Maggiore has other ideas. "We had a lot of positive things happen to us last week, despite the loss (27-6 to Montini, a team which beat CL Central 22-15 in week one). I thought we moved the ball well. A break here or there and it could haye been a much tighter ballgame. "McHenry's a big game for us WARRIORS-Page 10 By Plaindealer sports staff LAKE ZURICH - Mark Widhalm returned to the Johnsburg cross­ country lineup Thursday, but in all honesty, the Skyhawks didn't need their No. 1 runner. Johnsburg blasted Lake Zurich, 17-44 in a Northwest Suburban Con­ ference dual meet, improving to 2-1 in the league, 4-2 overall. "We just had a little more than they did," said Johnsburg coach Bob Texidor. "Lake Zurich is a great place to run, I really like it there. (LZ coach) Chuck Wolf runs a super program." Widhalm finished first in the 3.1 mile race, with a time of 16:53. He was followed by Johnsburg's Ed Nichols, second in 17:23, Matt Hennigan, third in 17:28, Brett Bart- koske fifth in 18:22, and Craig Zvonar, sixth in 18:25. - "Brett made a great improve­ ment, and Matt Hennigan, who's past LZ just a freshman, is really running well," Texidor said. "But Craig Zvonar, our sopho­ more, is really moving up. He was in a footrace for sixth place with a Lake Zurich boy, and Craig just pulled it out, dug deep and did it. He told me after the race that he really felt good about it," Texidor said. Bill Meyer finished eighth. Nor­ mally the Skyhawks' fourth man, Meyer has been ill. The JHS girls finished 2-3-4 in the varsity race. Freshman Jenny Baehne led the way with a time of 11:12 over the 1.5 mile layout. Sopho­ mores Lisa Nunamaker and Tariqmy Policky followed closely behind^ with times of 11:27 and 11:30, respectively. Johnsburg will take part in the Grant-Crystal Lake Invitational at Veterans Acres Park in CL Saturday morning. "It's a real tough one. We love it there," Texidor said. JHS spikes Wauconda By Plaindealer sports staff JOHNSBURG -- Sharal Johnson came up with a new method of giv­ ing her Johnsburg volleyball team incentive. The only bad thing is, she can only use it for one week every year. Thursday night, the Skyhawks pummelled Round Lake, 15-7, 15-10 in a Northwest Suburban Conference match. "When they want to win quickly, they do," Johnson said. Thursday, the Skyhawk girls wanted to get out of the gym quickly for one important reason: there are only two days left to build their respective classes' homecoming floats. "They had to get done fast to get to floatbuilding," Johnson laughed. "So this one didn't take long." The win was the Skyhawks' fifth straight, improving their record to 6-2 in the NWSC, 7-3 overall. "It's simple," Johnson said. "They know the teams they lost to, they shouldn't have. They know they have to communicate and concen­ trate. When everybody does that at the same time, that works in our favor. Tonight was one of those nights. "Everybody got to play, all 15 girls, and that's nice too," Johnson added. Kelly Quinlan moved from hitter to setter against the Bulldogs, and Johnson said the senior "did a nice job. She's been working on it. It's the first time she's ever done it a game." Quinlan had two aces, as did Arlet Mann, who had seven good serves. Jill Jurik had six. "We did an alright job of serv­ ing," Johnson said. "We missed two in the first game, and seven in the second." Vicki DuBeau had two blocks to lead the Skyhawks, while Laura Oef- fling and Cindy Swartzloff had two kills apiece. "It was a rather uneventful match. We play better against bet­ ter competition. "We have a lot of good players, no doubt about it. This is an example of how strong our bench is. The second game, with a new team, the final could have been 15-7. Our team is very well-rounded." Johnsburg will host an improved Marian Central squad Tuesday night. "Their only problem the last time we played them was getting the ball to their hitters. If their setters do an alright job, they'll be tough," John­ son said. The Johnsburg frosh-soph won 15- 3.16-14 over Wauconda. Grid Picks Here we are at the halfway point in the season -- week five -- and we have a tie for first place among our Illustrious Board of Prognosticators. Sam 'Biff Natrop and Mark 'The Big Shooter' Meyer own identical 27-13 record through the first four weeks of Grid Picks. As the leaders emerge This week's games CL South at CL Central Marengo at Marian Central Cary-Grove at Jacobs Richmond-Burton at Valley Lutheran Woodstock at Dundee-Crown McHenry at St Ed's Round Lake at Johnsburg South Carolina at Georgia Notre Dame at Purdue Chicago at Washington Natrop: I give's South's offense the edge over Central's defense -- 23-21; Marian's atop the Northwest Suburban? Who would have thought it? Look for Marian to thrash Marengo; Blue Streaks meet feisty D-C on latter's homecoming. Chargers threw a scare in South last week, but are similar to Jacobs in running depart­ ment. Woodstock offense due to get its act together. No better time than Saturday; Rockets all the way; McHenry finally gets its first win. . .1 think; Bears in a repeat Of last year over Redskins. Juzwik: 1 don't know why we subject ourselves to this week in and week out, but I'm told it's essential. Anyway, Crystal Lake Central is a better team than I had figured, the Tigers beat an up- and-down South team in a thriller. Marian and Johnsburg win their homecoming games, while Dundee-Crown loses its. Jacobs, Richmond, Georgia, Notre Dame win big. Bears in a toughie as Redskins get their act together. My McHenry picks have never made sense up to this point, so why should they start doing so today? I know life's rough, but this is ridiculous. English: Well, take a deep breath Phil, here it goes. Central and in the Northwest Suburban, Fox Valley and Big Eight conferences, the picking gets tougher and tougher. And look what we have to lead the week off with. It might be. . . Itcouldbe. . . Sam Natrop Chris Juzwik Phil English Mark Meyer 8-2 last week 1 6-4 last week 64 last week 8-2 last week 27-13 overall 25-15 overall 21-19 overall 27-13 overall South Central South Central Marian Marian Marian Marian Jacobs Jacobs Jacobs Jacobs Richmond Richmond Richmond- Richmond Woodstock Woodstock Woodstock Woodstock McHenry St. Edward McHenry St. Edward Johnsburg Johnsburg Johnsburg Johnsburg Georgia Georgia Georgia v Georgia Purdue Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Bears Bears Bears Bears South should be the game of the season in more ways than one. Spectacular performers on both sides of the field. The teams are so evenly-matched that it not only is hard to make a decision, it's downright scary. The game will be decided on a two-point conversion, a blocked PAT, a field goal or a safety. South gets the nod by two? Jacobs will make up for lost time over the Trojans, and while it will be homecoming for the hungry Chargers, Woodstock will need everything in its power to stifle an upset. McHenry gets the first win of the season because I'll be on the Warrior sideline. Meyer: A couple of tossups this week. Central by 3 over South in an emotion-filled contest at Metcalf Field. Central's 'D' will put clamps on Beck and Co. while the return of Tom Dodge carries the Tigers for the second straight week. Jacobs snaps two-game losing streak in a big way -- by 21 over a struggling Cary-Grove squad. Dundee-Crown looks to play the spoiler role again, but Bob Bradshaw's Blue Streaks prove to be a might stronger. Woodstock by 9. McHenry, still winless after four tries, comes up empty- handed again in Elgin as St. Edward and Kevin Callahan give Green Wave first win. Wave by 5. ^ P l a i n d e a l e r p h o t o s b y C h r i s J u z w i k %ial triumph over Dundee-Crown and Wood­ stock Thursday in Dundee. Zurblis, below comes through the finish chute and gets a hand. Friday, September 27,1985