Grayslake N. stops Johnsburg

With their backs against the wall and on the verge of school history, the Grayslake North Knights would either leave Johnsburg in jubilation or in disappointment.

“I had a gut feeling and knew we would have a great game,” Knights coach Steve Wood told his team in the postgame huddle after a dramatic 13-12 victory. “I was confident we would come through.”

The Knights are now 5-4 and will have to wait and see if they have amassed enough playoff points to participate in the postseason for the first time in school history.

“We're excited,” said Knights defensive back Adam Xiong. “We made school history.”

Xiong also had reason to be excited after he picked off Johnsburg quarterback Jon Torgersen with 1:41 left in the contest to seal the victory as it seemed Torgersen was leading the Skyhawks to a game winning drive.

“I kept seeing the quarterback eyeing the receiver,” Xiong explained. “He was doing it the whole game.”

The Knights' defense had to be tough because they were out on the field for the majority of the game and it needed to be stout as it took three quarters for the Knights offense to come alive to be specific, quarterback AJ Fish (12 of 14, 163 yards, 2 TDs).

“The offense just finally came together,” Fish explained. “The rain didn't help, but we did it.”

After going 0-for-3 for 2 yards in the first three quarters, Fish went 11-for-11 for 165 yards and 2 touchdown passes to Josh Cokefair (5 catches, 107 yards, 2 TDs) in the fourth quarter alone to propel the Knights to victory.

“AJ improved so much this summer,” Wood said. “We worked hard in the off-season with him. He has a lot of character and heart and made great plays tonight.

“I didn't realize I was perfect there,” Fish said. “I just got so caught up in the moment.”

Fish actually got caught up in two moments.

Trailing 3-0 with 10:11 left in the game, Fish hooked up with Cokefair for the first time to give the Knights the lead on a 10-yard pass.

Then, on the next drive after a missed Skyhawk field goal, Fish again lit up the scoreboard with a 78 yard TD pass to Cokefair that created pandemonium on the Knights' sideline.

“I just rolled out and saw Josh get behind the defense,” Fish said.

After a quick scoring drive that was capped by a 2-yard run by Jon Torgersen and a safety on a bad Knights snap, Johnsburg got the ball back on the Knights' 49 with 3:11 left before Xiong clinched it.

Now Grayslake North must play the waiting game. But don't plan on any big get-togethers as they await the decision.

“We'll just wait for a call from the coaches or read it in the paper,” said Fish.

“The kids played hard and this is huge for our program,” Coach Wood explained. “We'll need a lot of help but we'll wait and see.”