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Parker grounds out win

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Parker vs Craig Football

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JANESVILLE — Vintage Parker football.

That was the story Friday night at Monterey Stadium in the battle for the Monterey Rock.

Janesville Parker didn’t need a playbook. The offense was Adam Versterfelt left, Adam Vesterfelt right, and Adam Vesterfelt up the middle.

The plan worked to perfection as Parker High grounded out a 21-14 Big Eight Conference victory over crosstown rival Janesville Craig.

The win was the first for Parker over Craig in three years. More importantly, it moved the Vikings (4-2) one step closer to a WIAA playoff berth. Parker needs a win next week over Madison La Follette to earn an automatic bid.

Craig fell to 0-6 in the conference and for the season thanks to the legs of Vesterfelt and the ball-control Parker offense. The Vikings used most of the clock in the second half with a staggering 34 rushing attempts.

Vesterfelt, a bruising 195-pound sophomore, finished with 200 yards rushing on 41—yes, 41—attempts.

“A great effort by our kids to move the ball and keep our offense on the field,” Parker coach Joe Dye said.

“We talked before the game about three things being important. No. 1 was taking care of the football. No. 2 was tackling the football, and No. 3 was converting on third downs. I thought we did a good job in all three areas.”

Parker scored first on a Joe Allen 10-yard run with 3:36 left in the opening quarter, but Craig responded with an impressive scoring driv,e spearheaded by backup quarterback Cameron Wright. Craig starter Myles Johnson left the game in the first quarter after suffering his second head injury in the last four games.

Drilon Grajcevci capped the 65-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard run as Craig took its only lead at 7-6 with 23 second left in the first quarter.

The Vikings got the running game into high gear early in the second quarter and took the lead for good. Allen capped off a 17-play, 70-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:44 left in the half. Vesterfelt ran in the two-point conversion to give Parker a 14-7 lead.

Craig first-year coach Ben McCormick knew the Vikings had every intention of pounding the ball on every offensive possession.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, a nearly 8-minute scoring drive by the Vikings to start the second half pushed the deficit to 14.

“Football is a game of momentum,” McCormick said. “And you’ve got to trust that the pendulum will come back your way at some point.

“I told the kids afterward that if they don’t feel disappointed and hurt, then they don’t have enough invested. But I’m proud of the way they competed.”

After Vesterfelt’s 5-yard touchdown run gave the Vikings their 14-point lead, the Cougars cut the margin in half on Grajcevci’s 20-yard burst up the middle with 4:59 left.

Parker was poised to run out the clock on the ensuing possession, but Craig got a pivotal stop on fourth-and-one with and got the ball back at its 35 with just over a minute to play. The Cougars got to midfield, but Parker defensive lineman Trever Steinke sacked Wright to end the threat.

“What a great high school football game,” Dye said. “I tip my had to Janesville Craig and Ben (McCormick) because they played their tails off.

“I’m happy to have the Rock back, but I’m more happy about the fact that we played football early tonight. We haven’t done that the last three weeks.”

PARKER 21, CRAIG 14

Janesville Craig 7 0 0 7—14

Janesville Parker 6 8 7 0—21

Scoring summary: JP—Joe Allen, 10 run (kick failed). JC—Drilon Grajcevci, 1 run (Tom Kitching kick). JP—Allen, 7 run (Adam Vesterfelt run). JP—Vesterfelt, 5 run (Charlie Palan kick). JC—Grajcevi, 20 run (Kitching kick).

Statistics: First downs—JC 13, JP 20. Rushing—JC 30-118, JP 62-258. Yards passing JC 89, JP 84. Passes—JC 15-6-1. JP 10-9-0.