Football notes: Message received, as Grayslake North bounces back

There was a message that Grayslake North football coach Sam Baker wanted to get across to his team loud and clear over the last week of practice.

So he wore it on his sleeve.

Well, actually his chest.

Baker was trying to be innovative in getting his team's attention after its 1-2 start and a 31-0 thumping by Lakes in Week 3.

"We kept telling the kids that you are what you put on film and when you see our film, we've got some areas where we are really inconsistent," Baker said. "We had been outscored 20-89 in three games, we had been shut out twice, we had been penalized 21 times in three games and eight times for 100 yards against Lakes.

"I put all of that on a T-shirt."

And that T-shirt became Baker's favorite T-shirt.

"I wore it to practice every day this past week," Baker said with a laugh. "I was looking for a creative way to get my message across. We've got a lot of things to work on and we've got to get a lot more consistent."

The Knights took a move in the right direction, blowing by North Chicago on Friday night 28-7 in Northern Lake County Conference action. The win evens Grayslake North's record at 2-2 (1-1 NLCC). North Chicago (3-1, 1-1) had been unfeated at the time and had not surrended a single point through three games.

"Our emphasis was starting off well," Baker said. "We had been down early in every other one of our other games to start. But our offense got two early touchdowns (in the first quarter) and that really helped a lot."

Grayslake North quarterback Austin Martineau had a 10-yard touchdown pass to Nick Lovitsch to start the scoring and then hooked up with Brett Lila for a 52-yard touchdown.

A 26-yard touchdown pass from Martineau to Lovitsch in the second quarter gave the Knights a 21-0 lead at halftime.

Martineau completed 13-of-28 passes for 179 yards and 3 touchdowns.

"Austin has a lot of potential," Baker said of his starting quarterback. "He is very talented and has a strong arm and is a good leader. We just need to be more consistent as an offense."

Baker says that the offense is young, with multiple sophomores playing, and sometimes inexperience can breed inconsistency.

Also, injuries have not helped the cause.

The offensive line has had a different starting lineup for every game this season.

On Friday, the Knights were using their third-string center.

"Our starting center, Danny Amadio, was sick and then sprained his knee and then his backup, Boyd Herlt got a concussion," Baker said. "So we were using Angel Flores on Friday and Angel did a really good job. We were pleased with what he was able to do. But it's hard when there's no (cohesiveness to the lineup).

"We should have the same five guys next week (on the offensive line), so we're excited about that."

Grayslake North takes on Round Lake next week and is looking to keep this good momentum going. The Knights are determined to make the playoffs again.

"We've been talking to the kids about how we've got to really get it together because we don't want to hurt our playoff chances," Baker said. "We have gotten into the playoffs the last five years, and these guys don't want to be the group that breaks the streak."

Defensive gem: After allowing 89 points over its first three games, the Grayslake North defense got significantly stingier on Friday against North Chicago.

The Knights gave up only 7 points.

"It was our best defensive game of the year so far," Grayslake North coach Sam Baker said. "The defense was really focused."

Led by linebacker Zach Carter and linemen Angel Flores, Wake Caldero and Carter Price, the Knights recovered a fumble and really limited the North Chicago offense.

On top of that, Grayslake North also blocked 2 punts.

"I'm just really happy with the defense, particularly Zach Carter," Baker said. "He's just a really good player, so tough. He's just an old school thumper who makes plays. No need to motivate him."

Getting ready: So far this season, Vernon Hills has played four games against four schools that are all bigger in enrollment.

The Cougars are 1-3, defeating the one school closest in size, Grayslake Central, which has an enrollment of 1,415 students.

Vernon Hills is at 1,335.

The Cougars lost to Zion-Benton (2,590) in Week 2 and Rolling Meadows (1,925) in Week 3.

Another loss to a big school came on Friday, a 56-14 thumping by Hoffman Estates (1,858).

The Cougars are trying to look at the bright side as they prepare for the start Central Suburban League action next week, where the opponents will be much closer in size.

"We've played bigger, Class 7A schools so our kids have really had to battle and they've been tested by some very good teams," Vernon Hills coach Bill Bellecomo said. "So we feel really good going into conference next week. Our kids have had no off weeks. They will be ready to go."

Against Hoffman Estates, Vernon Hills wasn't all that ready to go, quickly falling behind 21-0. The Cougars were plagued by a couple of turnovers in the red zone that Hoffman Estates then turned into scores.

Vernon Hills was down 35-7 at halftime.

"We felt that we were doing some positive things, but we just weren't making plays when we had the opportunities," Bellecomo said. "We've had an issue with that the last three weeks of not making plays in the red zone. You have to be able to make those clutch plays. But we've got a lot of young, inexperienced kids and sometimes when you don't have much experience in those big situations, you tense up and you press too much.

"But the more you do it, the more you get used to it and then everyone feels more comfortable."

Quarterback Derek Jarrell had both touchdowns for Vernon Hills, a 6-yard run and a 47-yard pass to Luke Perlin.

"Luke does so much for us, pretty much a little of everything," Bellecomo said of Perlin. "He never comes off the field. He's been great for our younger guys. He goes 100 percent every day and his leadership has been outstanding."

Stepping in: Speaking of leadership, Vernon Hills was without the steady leadership of veteran two-way player Max Lyle. He's been out since the second half of last week's loss to Rolling Meadows when he sprained his knee.

Lyle plays some safety and running back and wide receiver for the Cougars, and is always a big playmaker.

"It's been tough without Max," Bellecomo said. "He was our do-everything on offense."

But Vernon Hills saw some good stuff out of sophomore running back Daniel Shin, who filled in for Lyle.

"He had some nice runs," Bellecomo said of Shin. "He looked good out there, espeically for a sophomore, against a good defense. He almost broke one."