Spirited effort lifts Wauconda

Last week's close loss to Grant might have broken Wauconda's heart, but it clearly didn't break its spirit.

The Bulldogs rebounded in a big way from their first loss of the season by tearing through Lakes on Saturday afternoon for a dominant 44-29 homecoming victory.

Wauconda and Lakes were tied at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter on a couple of nice touchdown passes, but then Wauconda tacked on four straight touchdowns and a safety to blow open a 37-7 late third-quarter lead.

"Our kids couldn't wait to get back out and play," Wauconda coach Glen Kozlowski said. "That was a tough loss last week. But we came back strong.

"We're a game away now from securing a playoff spot, but we want to do even more than that."

The victory moves Wauconda to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division.

With 5 wins, the Bulldogs inch ever closer to ending Wauconda's long playoff berth drought. The last time the Bulldogs made the playoffs was 1998.

Of course, it would still be possible for Wauconda to make the playoffs with just 5 wins, depending on its playoff points by the end of the season.

"Now we have a pretty good shot of getting in," Wauconda running back Brad Wisniewski said. "But we want more than 5 wins. We just want more, more, more."

More, more, more. That seemed to be Wisniewski's mantra throughout the game, too.

The workhorse senior put together his typical relentless effort by carrying the ball 34 times for a season-high 257 yards. He also scored 3 touchdowns.

His career-high for rushing yardage came last year when he rolled up more than 330 yards on 50-plus carries.

"I don't mind carrying the ball that much," Wisniewski said with a laugh. "I love carrying the ball.

"Our line makes it so easy. Those guys are just blocking tremendous. I just get the ball and walk up there. It's wide open."

Running backs Jamey Carey and Mike Pecka also benefited from the line's powerful surge. Carey rolled up 78 yards and Pecka ran for 2 touchdowns, including a 21-yarder that was Wauconda's final score of the game.

"They run the ball really well as a team," said Lakes coach Luke Mertens, whose team falls to 1-5 overall and 0-4 in the Prairie. "They did what they wanted to do."

Wauconda's defense was running the show for most of the afternoon, too.

The Bulldogs got their best defensive highlights during a five-minute stretch in the third quarter.

Jason Holst blocked a punt and the Bulldogs scored five plays later. Then, when Lakes got the ball back, Holst sacked quarterback Randy Ratajczyk on third down for a 21-yard loss.

That forced the Eagles to punt again, but Holst blocked that punt, too. The ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety.

"This is the first time I've ever blocked a punt in a game," Holst said. "It was a great feeling. It was just great to win the game. We were upset about last week and we needed to get back on track."

The Eagles finally got themselves somewhat on track in the fourth quarter. They scored 3 touchdowns to narrow the gap.

Ratajczyk, who completed 22-of-33 passes for 186 yards, scored two of the three fourth-quarter touchdowns. He also hit Kevin Guirand for a 19-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.

"We just wanted to come back because the last two weeks we got shut out on the offensive side," said Guirand, who caught 7 passes for 81 yards. "We really had a chip on our shoulder and we just wanted to put some points on the board."