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Craig football team overpowers Beloit

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Janesville Craig vs. Beloit Memorial football

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JANESVILLE — Cameron Wright and his Janesville Craig football teammates took out two weeks of frustrations on Beloit Memorial here Friday night.

After stumbling badly in the fourth quarter in back-to-back lopsided losses to Janesville Parker and Sun Prairie, Wright and the Cougars stormed back with a 47-14 thrashing of the Purple Knights in a Big Eight game at Monterey Stadium.

Wright accounted for six of Craig’s seven touchdowns, with four rushing TDs and two passing scores to John Olsen.

Craig High (2-2) raced to a 33-0 halftime lead and never looked back. Beloit had more penalty yards (71) than yards from scrimmage (31) entering the fourth quarter.

“The big thing for this football team was that there was no panic from our coaching staff or from our players,” Craig coach Ben McCormick said. “We knew we had lost to two pretty good football teams. The guys responded tonight and gave a great effort, on both sides of the ball.

“It started with a good week of practice, and it carried over into tonight.”

Craig failed to capitalize on its first two possessions—both deep in Beloit territory—but scored on Wright’s 1-yard sneak with 2:10 left in the opening quarter. Wright, who missed the first two games of the season with a knee injury, made it 14-0 on a nifty 10-yard run with 9:38 left in the half. His 48-yard TD pass to Olsen with 7:40 left in the half made it 20-0.

“Cam’s a very intelligent player and made smart decisions out there tonight,” McCormick said. “Beloit’s got a stout run defense, so we knew we were going to have to put the ball in the air. When we did that, Cam made good reads and the got the ball to John where he could make a play.”

“We think he’s a pretty special receiver,” McCormick said of Olsen, who also caught a 37-yard TD pass.

Craig’s defense had allowed more than 50 points in back-to-back losses but was in lockdown mode against the Purple Knights. Beloit (0-4) had 32 yards of offense by halfime and didn’t score until Craig went to the second- and third-stringers in the fourth quarter.

The Cougars spread the wealth evenly on offense with 169 yards on the ground and through the air. Senior Calvin Coleman capped off Craig’s scoring with an electrifying 88-yard kickoff return in the fourth.

Now back at .500, McCormick is hoping his team is on the right track.

“There’s a lot of football left, but hopefully, tonight was a good start for us,” McCormick said. “Our goal from the first day of practice was to be a playoff team. And I think that goal is still attainable.”

CRAIG 47, BELOIT 14

Beloit Memorial 0 0 0 14—14

Janesville Craig 7 26 7 7—47

Scoring summary: JC—Cameron Wright, 1 run (Monica Speth kick). JC—Wright, 10run (Speth kick). JC—John Olsen, 48 pass from Wright (kick failed). JC—Wright, 12 run (kick failed). JC—Olson, 37 pass from Wright (Speth kick). JC—Wright, 28 run (Speth kick). BM—Brock Chancey, 1 run (Edgar Mejia kick). JC—Calvin Coleman, 88 kickoff return (Speth kick). BM—Chancey, 74 pass fromReily West (Mejia kick).

Statistics: First downs—BM 6, JC 15. Rushes—BM 26-21, JC 30-169. Yards passing—BM 153, JC 169. Passes—BM 15-8-0, JC 18-6-0. Fumbles—BM 4-1, JC 2-0. Penalties—BM 8-82, JC 6-30.