Lakes finishes Grant
The Grant-Lakes contest wasn't so much a football game as it was a collection of short stories.
The night began with a Grant avalanche, but the host Eagles stayed close thanks to some accurate kicking and a couple of home runs.
When the Bulldogs completed an epic 82-yard touchdown drive to take a 27-15 lead, the final chapter seemed complete. Lakes had a different ending in mind, though, and Andrew Tubek ran for a pair of touchdowns in the final 5:38 to give the Eagles an unlikely 28-27 victory in the North Suburban Prairie.
"The topic of the week was confidence," said Tubek, who finished with 214 yards on 17 carries. "We talked about it all week, talked about it all day. We just executed."
On the very first play after Grant went ahead by 12, the 5-foot-6 Tubek broke loose down the right sideline for a 72-yard touchdown run. He broke an 83-yard scoring run in the first half.
"He's a good breakaway back for us," Lakes coach Luke Mertens said. "He doesn't need much of a seam, as you can see. Last week (in a loss to Harvard), we didn't give him enough touches."
The Bulldogs tried to run out the clock, but on a third-and-3 play, quarterback Justin Cokefair's pass was deflected by junior lineman John Pfeiffer and intercepted by Nathan Styx, setting up Lakes at the Grant 36-yard line.
It took just 3 carries by Tubek to cover the distance. His 11-yard touchdown sent Lakes ahead for the first time all night with 2:19 remaining.
Pfeiffer came through again with a sack and fumble recovery 2 plays later. Grant got the ball back on its own 4-yard line with 55 seconds left and couldn't maneuver into field goal range. The Bulldogs fell to 0-3 and need to win five of their final six games to even have a chance for a fifth straight playoff berth.
"We're not a very good team right now," Grant coach Kurt Rous said. "We made too many mistakes. They outplayed us for three quarters of the game. They deserved to win, we didn't."
The start of the game was as stunning as the finish. After a 3-yard gain on its first offensive play, Grant's next 4 runs went for 152 yards. Junior Leo Minne took a pitch 84 yards for a touchdown, then Cokefair (29 carries, 140 yards) gained 69 yards on 3 straight carries and his 1-yard run put the Bulldogs up 14-0 before the first quarter was even halfway done.
Grant drove to the Lakes' 13-yard line on its third possession before failing on a fourth-and-5. At that point, the Bulldogs had outgained Lakes 211-18.
"We talked about this exact thing in our pregame meeting," Mertens said. "We said, 'Guys, there's an excellent chance that they're going to jump up on us first.' In the past, they've crumbled. We can't crumble."
Minne threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Quinn Watters, giving Grant a 20-12 halftime lead. Pfeiffer sacked Cokefair for a safety and Mike Beckman drilled a pair of field goals to keep Lakes within striking range.
"We've never beaten them on the varsity level," Mertens added. "To get the win is a huge monkey off our back."