McHenry takes down Dundee-Crown

Updated: September 10, 2011 12:17AM

Dundee-Crown was given every opportunity by visiting McHenry to reverse two years worth of losing streaks.

The Warriors turned the ball over three times in the first half and gave up a blocked punt for an opening touchdown, but the Chargers failed to put up points in crucial situations before the pass-happy McHenry offense got going.

The Warriors’ 33-14 victory extended D-C’s misery to 22 straight losses versus McHenry and 20 in a row overall.

“I’m not sure what to say,” McHenry coach Tim Beagle said. “We had some special teams blunders and we were lucky to survive it.”

The Chargers (0-3, 0-1 in the Fox Valley Fox) got off to a fortuitous start when Julian Duarte blocked McHenry’s first possession punt at the goalline and Cordero Parson recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.

The Warriors (2-1, 1-0) also missed an extra point and fumbled twice on punt returns, one which set up a 10-yard touchdown run by the Chargers’ Cody Lane as D-C held a 14-13 edge at halftime.

“Special teams, people think it’s not a big deal, but it kind of comes down to it when it comes to turnovers,” McHenry quarterback Robert Tonyan said. “It can turn around a game, so we have to just get that back on track.”

The Chargers could have been up more if not for a strange play right before half with D-C at the Warriors’ 2 but confused by the down-- which was fourth-- because the markers said third.

An incomplete pass ended the threat and McHenry opened the second half by recovering the kickoff in a dead spot downfield, which led to 20 unanswered points.

“We’d have kicked a field goal,” said D-C coach Vito Andriola about the play before half. “This is not easy (turning a program around). We’re battling things that happened. We’d practiced that play (on the second half kickoff) so many times this week, and we don’t get it. That’s what good programs do. You make the plays you’re supposed to and we’re not yet.”

Tonyan picked apart the Chargers’ secondary to the tune of 24-for-37 for 317 yards and four touchdowns.

He hit Adam Mattson on a 46-yard strike in the first half and a 20-yard touchdown to open the second half, before connecting with Korey Partenheimer from four yards and Bryan Wegner from three.

“We know we can (come back),” Tonyan said about being down at half. “We were one of the best offenses last year in the conference. We just kept it up and stayed positive.”

Brian Frapolly scored on an 8-yard run in the second quarter for McHenry, which faces Jacobs (3-0) next week. D-C travels to Prairie Ridge trying to get what they couldn’t Friday night.

“I’m not a Pollyanna guy, I don’t take losing well,” Andriola said. “But we practiced better this week and it transformed into a better performance on the field.”

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