Grayslake North stays positive despite loss
When you're on a team that loses a football game by 21 points, positive postgame comments by your head coach may be few and far between.
This was not the case for Grayslake North and coach Steve Wood, who gave his players a positive message despite falling on the road to Crystal Lake Central 28-7 Friday night in a Fox Valley Fox Division matchup.
"This team has some heart," Wood said. "They've got a lot of heart. They could have rolled over but they didn't, and we played one of the top teams in the state to a 7-7 second half."
Wood also said that his team responded to a halftime challenge.
"They (Crystal Lake Central) are huge, fast, and physical," he said. "They are exactly what you want in a football program. We challenged our kids to rise up and take care of that and I thought we played a great second-half of football."
The first half saw Crystal Lake Central sophomore running back Gage Harrah (15 carries, 170 yards) hit the jackpot with 2 touchdowns - a 37-yard run on their first play from scrimmage, and an 83-yard scamper. He later added a second-half score from 3 yards out.
"He's just an amazing athlete," said Tigers fullback Adam Smyth, who tallied 69 rushing yards. "He has the power to get up inside but also has the speed to break it, and it's really sweet to know that I can share my senior season with him and the rest of the running backs."
One of those other running backs for Crystal Lake Central (4-1, 2-0 in Fox division) included Ryan Hines (8 carries, 51 yards), who scored the second touchdown of the game from 11 yards out.
Grayslake North (2-3, 1-2 in Fox) got a great effort from receiver Matt Robinson (8 catches, 139 yards). Robinson scored the Knights' only touchdown on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Sean Brennan in the fourth quarter.
"He played a great game, Wood said of Robinson. "We threw the ball in the second half and had some success. Matt caught a bunch of good balls and Sean Brennan played well and was able to outrun some of their defenders and get the ball off."