CL South 3-0 after blanking Grayslake Central
It sure didn't seem like Gator football to Crystal Lake South in the first half.
For the first two quarters in Crystal Lake South's 35-0 Fox Valley Conference crossover win over Grayslake Central the Rams looked like to be bitter foils, not foes. Picking up a fumble on the Gators' first play from scrimmage on the Gator 24, Grayslake's confidence garnered a giant boost against what Central coaches called the "best team" in the conference after the game, but they failed on a 41-yard field goal attempt to give them an early first quarter lead.
And just when it seemed the Rams had the Gators' number again on the first play of the second quarter when Cam Neely picked off Gators quarterback Drew Ormseth from the Gators' 35, it ended in the worst way for Grayslake when Phil Hespen came from behind and poked the ball away near the goal line. The Gators recovered in the end zone for a touchback and never looked back.
"We know how special they were defensively and we would have to execute when we had our shots. We had some shots and missed." Rams coach Nick Goshe said.
"We could have been down 14-0, easy." said Gators coach Jim Stuglis.
The Gators captured a 14-0 halftime lead after scores from Kameron Scott's 19-yard run and a bobbled punt deep in the Gators' zone set up Drew Ormseth's 2-yard pass to Alec Giles in the corner of the end zone just before the half. The Gators went back to their style of football and it showed. South held Central to just 26 total yards in the second half, rattled off 21 straight points, and capped the night with Giles' second touchdown, this time a 53-yard interception he returned for his second defensive touchdown of the season.
"It proves that we can have a bad first half, but we can come back in the second half." Giles said.
South grew the lead to 28-0 in a 6 minute span in the third on 2 Ormseth touchdown passes, a 36-yard pass to John Wagner and a 33-yard pass to Brandon Erickson, both over the middle, then Giles picked off Mike Gentile for 53 yards. South's defense was business as usual, holding Grayslake to 77 yards total offense.
"That's how it ends up 35-0." said Goshe.
South's J.D. Barchard led the Gators with 77 yards on 11 rushes. Central's Michael Katona caught 4 passes for 27 yards.