Football: Grayslake North sizes up new challenge in Northern Lake
A trip from Grayslake to Hampshire is about 40 miles, and takes a good hour. Longer in rush-hour traffic.
The football coaches at Grayslake North sure aren't going to miss that road game.
But surprisingly, some of the players might.
Grayslake North, which joined teams from across the state of Illinois Monday in opening the 2016 season with the first official day of practice, has switched conferences from the Fox Valley to the new Northern Lake County.
Most schools in the new eight-team league used to belong to the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division and are just a short drive from Grayslake North. Long road trips for the Knights to places such as Hampshire and Woodstock will be replaced by short jaunts to places such as Round Lake and Lakes in Lake Villa.
"I actually kind of liked the travel to all those far places," said Grayslake North senior running back Dami Oladunmoye, who rushed for more than 1,800 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2015 but was in a boot on Monday after spraining his ankle during a summer lacrosse game. He is due to be fully healthy for the season opener on Aug. 26.
"I liked seeing new places," Oladunmoye said. "And it was kind of cool leaving school seventh period (in order to have enough time for the drive).
"It was fun for the team. You got to know people you never really chilled with. Everyone always talks about football and family, but those long road trips actually got us closer to other people, so that was kind of nice."
The Knights will instead use team outings to build camaraderie, such as their trip to the Grayslake pool after Monday's practice.
That served as a nice distraction from the serious business of the preseason. Grayslake North steps into this new league as a top target. Along with defending NSC Prairie Division champion Lakes, Grayslake North is the team to beat.
The Knights return with more wins (7) in 2015 than any other team in the new league. And they are coming off of a second-round playoff appearance, which was further than any other team from the Northern Lake County Conference advanced last season.
"I don't know if I'd say that we have a bullseye on our back, but I definitely think the other teams know that if they want to win the conference, they've got to go through us," Grayslake North coach Steve Wood said. "We've had some good success (in recent years). These guys (on varsity) know nothing but winning."
Speed will be the key to keeping the Knights in the win column in 2016.
"We're going to be very fast," Grayslake North tight end and defensive lineman Payton Campbell said. "Our biggest strength is team speed. Everyone is fast. Even our linemen. This is our fastest team ever, speed-wise.
"We're always pushing each other to be as fast as we can be. I feel like we'll do pretty good because of that."