Grant turns away North Chicago

Can there be a turning point in a 50-12 romp?

In the case of Grant's easy win over visiting North Chicago, the answer is yes.

Grant (5-2, 4-1 North Suburban Prairie) held a 7-0 lead over the Warhawks. And the Bulldogs prepared to double that lead as they marched to the North Chicago 10-yard line as the first quarter wound down on Thursday night in Fox Lake.

And then the home team coughed up the football.

Grant sophomore Billy Sullivan picked up the play-by-play after North Chicago took the ball over.

"It was great," Sullivan said. "I saw the routes and then the ball was right there."

Sullivan, a September call-up to the varsity, took this interception into the end zone after a gallop of 20 yards. It swung the momentum quickly back to Grant.

The Bulldogs won their fourth straight game.

In all fairness, the Bulldogs' new safety really should have had 2 interceptions on this night.

Sullivan swiped another North Chicago pass but lost this pick to a roughing-the-quarterback call.

"I should have had two for the game but that happens," Sullivan said. "But this is cool on the varsity."

Sullivan began this campaign on the sophomore team. And then he was asked to join the varsity team two weeks ago.

"He's a good athlete," said Grant coach Kurt Rous. "He was in a good position, but that was natural instinct that helped him score."

Once Sullivan hit the end zone, the race was on for the Grant offense.

The Bulldogs would score three more times before the half expired.

"This was our regular formula," Rous said. "We run the ball."

To be fair, there was one pass play on the 65-play drive that put the Bulldogs up 21-0.

Other than that one short toss from Alex Villa to Jerry Gaylor, it was all running plays. Villa would either run with the ball or hand off to Jonathan Wells or Kyle Whitman. The drive ate up five minutes of clock.

After Whitman bolted 12 yards deep in North Chicago territory, Villa took it over from the 5-yard line. This score came at the 5:45 mark of the second quarter.

And 26 seconds later, the Bulldogs scored again. Kris Smith fell on a fumble for Grant to give the ball back to the offense. Two plays later, Whitman raced in the touchdown from 33 yards out.

After Dillon Waters ran in the wo-point conversion, it was 29-0.

Grant still wasn't through scoring in the first half. The offense took the ball over at their own 23-yard line. This time the passing game helped out the offense. Especially important was a 51-pass play from Villa to Gaylor.

Whitman was again in the end zone with 27 seconds to play before half. Brandon Lombardino's extra point made it 36-0.