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1 'Tales' is right: MC wins Penza sighs, Roberts wonders after 'Hawks lose Johnsburg miming back Pete Pagast it met by Marian Central's Chris Noe during the second quarter of the Hurricanes' 19-16 win over the Skyhawks at George Harding Field Friday Plalndealer photo by Chris Juzwlk night. Marian led 12-0 at halftime, but Johns­ burg rallied to lead 16-12 early in the fourth quarter. By Chris Jonrik Plalndealer sports efltor JOHNSBURG -- It was the best of times, It was the worst of times. Oops. That's been used. If you thought 'A Tale of Two Cities was something, how about a tale of two coaches? Both Marian Central's Don Penza and Johnsburg's Mike Roberts were in the same boat entering Friday night's Northwest Suburban Conference dash in Wood­ stock. But only one would leave the field still cruising along, while the other would remain treading water. Afterwards, Penza knew he had survived a rugged game. Roberts, on the other hand, was trying to get a grasp of where his team went wrong. But, it was over. One coach was darn glad of that fact. His opponent wished there were more minutes left. "We knew we woe In for one heck of a ballgame," Penza said in middle of George Harding Field Friday night after his Marian Central Hurricanes had edged Johnsburg, 19-16. "Johnsburg always, always plays us tough," Penza s a i d . . a 4 Friday night was no different. The Skyhawks played good football, good enough to grab a 16-12 early in the fourth quarter on a 35-yard touchdown scamper by senior Dan Stefka. The play was set up by a a 34-yard pass play from Johnsburg quarterback Frank Husak to fellow junior Jeff Huemann, who made a splendid over-the- shoulder catch at the MC 35. Stefka's score came on the next play. "Jeff Huemann had his best game of the year," Roberts said. "He really played well." In addition to the big reception, Huemann returned kickoffs and punts, and played a strong defensive back for the Skyhawks. Marian's Jeff Hill then made one of his few mistakes of the evening, fumbling the ensuing kickoff, with Johns­ burg's Mark Adams falling on the loose ball at Marian's 20. <- Johnsburg's chance to blow the game open went awry when Husak's pass to Pete Switzer went incomplete near the goal line. After two {days netted the Skyhawks a yard, Husak was sacked on fourth down, and Marian NORtHWm SUBURBAN CONFERENCE MARIAN CENTRAL Round Lake v Lake Zurich Marengo JOHNSBURG Wauconda Grant Grayslake 7 Cool. 2 0" "2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 i; 0 4 Friday's Result*: - MARIAN It, JOHNSBURG " Marengo 7, Grant < Saturday's Results: Round Lake 14, Grayslake 8 Wauconda 7, Lake Zurich 6 began its game-winning drive. Sophomore quarterback Jim Hartlieb ran twice for 33 yards, and Hill -- who rushed for 209 yards on the night -- broke loose for 30, before Hartlieb scored on a fiver yard jaunt, giving the Hurricanes the lead and the win. - Penza's squad was successful with the two-quarter? SKYHAWKS-Page 5 Monday, September 23,198S Schlender, MCHS 0-4, but 'relieved' By am mm MINI Chris Juzwlk •ports editor McHENRY -- Joe Schlender and the McHenry Warriors aren't the least bit happy their record Is 04. But they are extremely happy that the games they've played are over- wlth, finished, pfft. "I guess when we looked at the schedule before the season started, 'i* t Geske leads swimmers to win over Wauk. E. By Plalndealer sports staff WAUKEGAN - McHenry's girls' swimming team ran its re­ cord to 2-1 last week a 41-35 win over Waukegan East. The Warriors received a total of four first place finishes, with Mary Geske having a hand in three of them. Geske won two events on her own, and then had a hand -- along with Kim Kull, Debbie Holtz and Shannon Brown -- as the Warriors grabbed another first in a relay event. Tracey Hoffman also collected a first for McHenry. Second place finishes came from Brown, Amy Hutchlngs, and a pair from Kull. The War­ riors relay team of Kris Paner- ali, Hutchings, Holtz and Brown also took a second place. v The Warriors get back into the water Tuesday at West Campus against Streamwood. we thought there was a possibility we'd be at this stage," Schlender offered Sunday, two nights after the Warriors were soundly beaten by Crystal Lake Central, 38-6. "We didn't feel we wanted to be here, or necessarily that we would be here, but we saw there was a possibility we would. We've lost to lour good teams. We had the capa­ bility to beat them all, but Central was the beat of the bunch. If we played them 10 times, we might get them once. The other three, we could have beaten on another day In another frame of mind," Schlender said. Of the other three teams which have toppled the Warriors, two have FOX VALLEY CONFERENCE ing the opening quartet of contests behind him. "I'm really glad to have this part of the schedule over. We knew it could be this bad. Now, we're just hoping at this break point in the schedule, we can turn things around. The pressure's off, we've got a non- conference game, and then our homecoming game against Jacobs the next week. They've tasted defeat twice now. We'd like to get a modest win streak gning "St. Ed's has three or four fine athletes, and it really Should be a good ballgame. We've gained our share on offense, and played well enough on defense to win. Now, we've got to get a victory. That would be the cure-all." Chris Juzwik CL Central CL South Woodstock Dundee-Crown Cary-Grove Jacobs McHENRY Osaf. 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 Overall 0 S 1 3 4 2 0 2 0 • Ji i: Cary-Grove at McHen­ ry; Johnsburg at Lake Zurich, 4:30 p.m. Golf: McHenry at Jacobs, 4:30 p.m. Volleyball: Johnsburg at Har­ vard, 5 p.m. Friday's Results: CL Central 38, McHENRY 6 Woodstock 27, Jacobs 17 Rlvad-Brkfld. 32, Cary 6 Saturday's Result: CL South 26, D-C 20 winning records (Riverslde-Brook- fleld and Crystal Lake South), while the other, Grant, slipped to 1-3 with a loss Friday night to Marengo. "We have to take stock in our team," Schlender said. "We have a non-conference game next week against St. Ed's (in Elgin), and they're a good football team. They lost to Montini Saturday, but they're capable." Despite the lopsided score of Fri­ day's outing, Schlender said good things did come from the loss. "Actually, It was a pretty good outing in some respects," Schlender said. "We really played hard. The bottom line was the Central is just a heck of a good football team, bigger and more physical than we are. I was a little surprised at how good they are. It was one of the hardest- hitting football games I've seen in a longtime." Volleyball: Johnsburg at Maren­ go, 4:30 p.m. Swimming: Streamwood at Mc­ Henry, 4:30 p.m. Soccer: Wauconda at McHenry, 4:30 p.m. Schlender'S praise of the Tigers went one step further: "If like they did Friday night, they'll they play Johnsburg at Marian Central; McHenry at Dundee- Crown, 4:30 p.m. Soccer: McHenry at Rockford Boylan, 4:30 p.m. Thursday: Johsabttri it 4:30 Lake Zurich; dee-Crown w/ Wc Volleyball: a South at McHen- ly; Johnsburg at Wauconda, 4:30 p.m. take it," he said, 'it' being the Fox Valley Conference title. They earned everything they got against us, but they earned It consistently. They've got a super offensive line, and a good backfieid, a quarterback with good foot speed, they've really got a lot ffoing for than. "I thought our defensive kids did a nice Job. Dave Parlsi, Jim Shaver, Dana Pitel, Billy Cameron, Mike Schultz, they all did a heck of a Job defensively. "Our little linemen really gave it their all, too," he added. "Tim Friesl had an outstanding game, and Andy Rogers, our 162-pound defen­ sive tackle really played well. The kids hit real well, played with inten­ sity. The last couple of series, our offensive line looked good. So, there were some good things." Schlender then sighed about hav- A Marian believer after all these years A friend's sibling, who plays for Marian Central's football team, approached me prior to Friday night's Marian-Johnsburg game, with an angry, snarly look on his face. I attributed the scowl to his 'putting on a game face,' a task done by many football players before going out to bang helmets. "You guys ready tonight?" I queried. "Nice job of picking," he said. "What?" "Nice job, picking Johnsburg to beat us," he retorted, speaking of my prediction in the morning paper that the Skyhawks would slip past the Hurricanes. "Oh, that," I laughed. "Well, it should be a good game," I replied. "Yeah, we'll see." And, for once in a blue moon, I was right. I said the right thing, made the right choice. Johnsburg didn't win -- but It was a good game. The best football game I've seen in a while, to be sure. It wasn't perfectly played, wasn't free of miscues and bobbles and poor decisions, but it was a darn good football game. Being a graduate of Marian, I sometimes have certain feelings about Marian. Feelings that they'll be pumped up on their way to the field, stay in the game for a quarter, then proceed to get mauled and walk off the field with a hangdog expression on their faces. That, however, is a thing of the past. When I was a high school youth, Marian was one of the laughing stocks of the highly competitive West Suburban Catholic Conference. We lost -- a lot. And, we came to expect it. Losing by a close margin was a win in its own right. A moral victory of the highest degree. Then, I left. And with my departure, Marian began to build. And build. And the Hurricanes didn't stop until they reached the top floor, a state championship in 1963. Last season, Marian reached the semifinals of the Class 2A playoffs. Here in 1965, it's a less-talented Marian team, but nevertheless, it's one which knows how to win. Johnsburg coaches Mike Roberts and Bill Hurckes spoke of the 'Marian tradition.' I knew there was a Marian tradition when I was there, a tradition of helplessness. That has changed in a big way. "Marian expects to win," said Roberts. "If they're in a close game, they expect they'll do what .it takes to win," added Hurckes. And, in a nutshell, you have Marian's key to success. And the reason why Marian may again win the Northwest Suburban Confer­ ence football title. Johnsburg is 1-3, while McHenry is 1-4. A football tradition isn't evident at either school. "We have to learn to win," said Roberts, a thought that has been echoed by McHenry coach Joe Schlender time and again. McHenry and Johnsburg have talent. Marian has that, and more -- like a winning attitude. Next time I select a Marian contest, I'll keep that in mind. Plalndealer photo by Chris Juzwlk Marian Central's Jeff Hill slashes for valuable yardage Friday night. Hill had his second big game in a row, rushing for 209 yards against Johnsburg. The week prior, Hill amassed 129 yards against Grayslake. Both Johnsburg and Marian will play their homecom­ ing games this weekend, the Skyhawks against Round Lake, the Hurricanes against Marengo. Bill paces Richmond spikers By Plalndealer sports staff HAMPSHIRE - After a split of two hard-fought games last Thurs­ day night, Richmond-Burton's vol­ leyball team was looking for a leader. The leadership the Rockets re­ ceived came in the form of Shannon Bill, who keyed an awesome R-B display in the third game, leading the visitors to a 15-13,13-15,15-4 Big Eight Conference win. Richmond is 7-1 overall, 5-1 in the Big Eight. "Shannon had a really good night," said Richmond coach Jan Welch. "She had eight points serv­ ing, five aces spiking, and really got the momentum going for us in the third game. She got us on top. "In the third game, we jumped out right away, were ahead from the beginning. It wasn't much of a third game, really." But the two contests that preceded it were excitment enough. The Rock­ ets held on in the first contest, but saw a six-point cushion slip away in game two. "Hampshire's a pretty good team," Welch said. "They're about the fifth best or so in our conference out of eight. We were ahead 9-3 in the second, but we blew it. 1 guess we lost concentration. "We came back nicely, though. It was a good win." R-B will continue BEC play Tues­ day at Huntley. mm w*m . ; .. . *