Football: Cambridge staved off by Belleville in ESC opener, 31-14

CAMBRIDGE — Senior quarterback Rayden Taylor had a three-touchdown game to lead visiting Belleville past Cambridge's football team 31-14 in the Eastern Suburban Conference opener for both teams on Friday. "We feel we won the trenches in the first half and they won the trenches in the second half," Cambridge football coach Rob Nelles said. "They were rotating more guys than we had available to rotate. Belleville wore us down, in part because they had a big advantage in average starting field position. "Belleville got their run game going with Taylor and we blew a few coverages defending the pass. Our run game looked good in the first half until they figured out what we were doing." The Blue Jays were within 17-14 in the latter part of the fourth quarter when the Wildcats intercepted a pass by junior quarterback Ian Nelles, then punched in an insurance score to make it a double-digit game. "Belleville was blitzing more in the second half because they knew we had to throw the ball," coach Nelles said. "They had a linebacker who had been blitzing all night who dropped back hook to curl and made the interception." Nelles went 19-of-33 passing for 164 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. "Our offensive line for the most part held their own and for the most part kept Ian clean," coach Nelles said. "Belleville could taste blood in the water with a quarterback who is limited to what he can do right now. It was impressive for Ian to stay in the pocket the way he did." Junior running back Cash Cunningham ran it 23 times for 90 yards, doing a majority of his damage before halftime. "Our double tights are looking pretty good right now," coach Nelles said of the run game. "When we got behind, we had to spread it out. We were worried about Belleville's front seven, which is a really solid group." Five Cambridge players caught a pass, led by senior wide receiver J'Kari Crawford who had five grabs for 54 yards including a 1-yard scoring grab early in the second quarter. Senior wideout Trevor Polster hauled in a 19-yard scoring strike in the back of the end zone with 5:39 remaining in the game. Cunningham ran in the two-point conversion, cutting the margin to 17-14. The Wildcats (2-1, 1-0 in conference) were a force to be reckoned with on the ground, amassing 267 yards on 35 attempts. Taylor led the charge with 16 carries for 167 yards, scoring twice, while senior running back Jackson Fahey had a 60-yard game on 14 totes and had one TD. Through the air, Taylor went 5 of 13 for 124 yards with one touchdown -- a 40-yard strike to senior wideout Max McCluskey -- and one interception as Belleville outgained Cambridge 391-265. Defensively for the Blue Jays (1-2, 0-1), Polster had a team-high eight tackles, Crawford made seven stops and senior defensive lineman Jack Baker recovered a fumble he forced. Junior linebacker Oscar Brown intercepted a Taylor pass. "Belleville head coach Michael Nolden told us at the end of the game that he was impressed with how physical we were," coach Nelles said. "They were not expecting that type of physicality. We hang our hat on being a physical football team, having guys who bring that element and then our motto is to 'hang tuff'. "We know who we are and what we can do, so we're looking forward to the rest of our season." Cambridge travels to face Horicon/Hustisford (0-3, 0-1) at Horicon High School next Friday at 7 p.m. in ESC action. BELLEVILLE 31, CAMBRIDGE 14 Belleville 7 0 10 14 -- 31 Cambridge 6 0 0 8 -- 14