Quite a capper for Grayslake Central

Grayslake Central football coach Nick Goshe just might have found a good-luck cap.

During the Rams' 43-6 win over visiting Mt. Vernon on Saturday, Goshe wore a black Ohio State cap.

Not exactly Grayslake Central green.

But it proved to be a winning look for Goshe, whose team earned a tip of the cap.

Saturday night, Grayslake Central received official news that it had earned an at-large berth into the state playoffs.

The Rams haven't participated in the postseason since 2003. Grayslake Central (5-4) opens the Class 5A playoffs Friday with a 7 p.m. kickoff against Senn (9-0) at Lane Stadium in Chicago.

"I didn't have a hat," Goshe explained with a laugh. "So I grabbed something that was close enough to the school colors and put it on.

"It worked. I'll take it."

While a green cap would have been more fashionable, what was a coach to do considering the circumstances?

"All these coaches are stealing all my visors," Goshe joked. "I got nothing left. It's either them, or my 2-year-old takes them and runs off with them."

Hein is fine: Grayslake Central's defense has received a boost this month from senior strong safety Kevin Hein.

A starter last year, Hein tore his ACL in June and underwent reconstructive knee surgery.

Amazingly, he returned to the football field in just four months. He missed the first six weeks of the season.

"I was back in four months on the dot," Hein said.

"The knee's holding up great."

Perseverance pays off: Grayslake Central went 0-9 in Nick Goshe's first year as head coach three years ago. The Rams followed up with a 1-8 campaign, then 4-5 last season.

Their fifth win, which came Saturday against Mt. Vernon, got them into the state playoffs.

Credit the head coach.

"Every year he's put more control into it and has upped it," senior tight end/defensive end C.J. Stempeck said of Goshe. "The last two years have probably been the hardest two."

Till's will: Lake Zurich quarterback Zach Till had a rough first half against host Lake Forest last Friday night.

The junior turned the ball over four times, throwing 2 interceptions, fumbling away a snap and muffing a punt deep in Lake Zurich territory. Lake Forest turned the fourth turnover into a touchdown and 14-7 lead at intermission.

When his team needed him the second half, however, Till delivered.

First, he led a 17-play, 76-yard, third-quarter drive that Mike Rantis capped with a 3-yard touchdown run.

Then, with the score tied at 14-14 with 4:05 left in the fourth quarter, Till directed Lake Zurich downfield again. The Bears got to the Lake Forest 15, called timeout with 4 seconds left and trotted out unflappable Scott Walding, who drilled a game-winning, 31-yard field goal.

"I pulled him over (at halftime) and looked him in the eye," Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz said of Till. "He's a very confident kid and he looked right back at me. I said, 'Zach, you're our quarterback for a reason. We have all the confidence in the world in you. You've made plays for us all year. Forget about (the first half). It's done. Go out there and play the type of football that we know you can.'

"He just looked right back at me. You knew he was going to come out and do what he needed to do."

Till finished with 96 rushing yards on 20 carries. He scored the Bears' first TD on a 1-yard sneak in the first quarter.

Just for kicks: Even if Carmel's high-powered offense somehow gets stuck in neutral, scoring points won't be a problem.

That's because the Corsairs boast a record-setting kicker in their arsenal.

Sophomore Steven O'Block, a soccer player who came out for football for the first time this fall, is kicking all kinds of field goals this season and each one is better than the last.

O'Block has set Carmel's all-time longest field goal mark three times already this season. First, he hit a 44-yard field goal, which beat the previous school record of 39 yards set by Chris Iantoni in 1989. Then, he beat that with a 46-yarder.

Two weeks ago against Notre Dame, O'Block hit two field goals, one of which went for 50 yards, another school record.

"It's unbelievable," Carmel coach Andy Bitto said of O'Block's quick-study success. "Any time we're inside the 30-yard line, we're going to score because he's going to make the field goal. He's been very accurate and he's got a very strong leg."

O'Block has hit 6 of his 7 field goal attempts this year. He also handles kickoffs and has recorded 28 touchbacks this season, also a school record.

But O'Block might soon be getting a run for his money.

Bitto has another impressive kicker waiting in the wings in fellow sophomore Matt Ryan. Ryan hit a 48-yard field goal in a sophomore game.

Ryan punted for the varsity Saturday in Cincinnati and soared 6 punts for a 35-yard average.

"We've been so lucky with kickers at Carmel," Bitto said. "We've got two guys playing in college right now (Kevin Cook at Eastern Illinois and Billy Janssen at Drake) and of course there is Chris Miller (who was one of the best punters in college football at Ball State)."

• Patricia Babcock McGraw contributed to this report.