No postseason, but plenty of memories for these four teams

Football playoff season is right around the corner, and plenty of teams in Lake County are gearing up for what they hope will be a long run that ends with an appearance in a state championship game in Champaign.

There are 10 teams in the Daily Herald's coverage area that are either already in the playoffs or could play their way into a spot with a win in their regular-season finales tonight.

Then there's Grayslake Central, Mundelein, Grant and Round Lake. With just 4 wins between them, those four teams already know for sure that they'll be done after the final horn tonight.

Each of their seasons has been a struggle, marked with adversity, frustration and growing pains. Yet, within that darkness, there were some sunny, prideful moments for all four programs, moments that could help set a positive tone for next season.

Here's a recap of those bright spots for Grayslake Central (0-8), Mundelein (0-8), Grant (2-6) and Round Lake (2-6):

Just for kicks: A soccer player all through his youth, Kevin Dunk was persuaded by his football buddies to try out for football his sophomore year.

"They told me that the varsity needed a kicker," Dunk said. "I was going to play soccer, but I decided to give football a try."

Almost immediately, Dunk was getting fitted for his varsity uniform.

Last year, as a junior, Dunk kicked a 43-yard field goal, 1 yard shy of the school record of 44 yards held by Jon Gurchak. His kicking coach was disappointed that he didn't get the record.

"He really wanted me to get the record," laughed Dunk, noting the irony.

Dunk's kicking coach is Bob Gurchak, Jon's dad.

"We're really close," Dunk said of Bob Gurchak. "I've been working with him all these years. He said that I had to get the record this year. He really wasn't too concerned that it was Jon's record."

Dunk threw down his version of a slam dunk against Woodstock North in Week 7. He drilled a 45-yard field goal to break the record.

"I'm really glad I got that," said Dunk, who also played wide receiver for the Rams and caught a season-long 65-yard touchdown pass against Woodstock in Week 5. "Obviously, this season is not what we planned on, but we did have some good moments, and when you love the sport, you just keep playing whether you're winning or losing."

Interestingly, Dunk probably could have crushed the previous school field goal record by quite a few yards had he used a block like most high school kickers do. But midway through last season, he decided to kick directly off the ground, since that's what college kickers are required to do and he wants to play at the next level.

"I'd say about 75 percent of high school kickers use a block because you probably can get about 10 yards further and you can get the ball up a lot higher," said Dunk, who is ranked the 65th-best kicker in the nation by kohlskicking.com. "But I made the switch because I'm serious about playing in college. It's been good for me."

Ditto for the tough life lessons Dunk has learned through football this year.

"It was a rough season, but no matter what was happening on the field, I feel like I was still growing as a human being," Dunk said. "I learned a lot about hard work. You've got to put a lot of work in with football and I didn't always do that. You also really bond with your teammates and learn to work together even during rough times."

Happy returns: One of the most optimistic moments in any Mundelein game was kickoff time, especially when the Mustangs were on the receiving end.

That's when senior Robert Hamilton had the chance to do his thing.

Hamilton was Mundelein's primary returner. He juked and motored his way to 2 touchdowns off of kickoff returns this season (against Wheeling and Highland Park), but had many more in which he was just a shoestring tackle away from taking it to the house.

Hamilton says he averaged nearly 40 yards per kickoff return this season.

"The key is to run north and south instead of east and west," Hamilton said. "You have to hit those seams hard and you can't be dancing around. You've got to go full speed and you've got to have no fear."

Hamilton, who put on 20 pounds of muscle during the off-season, also had to be in great shape. He never came off the field this season. He also started at running back and at safety in every game.

"It was fun, and I never got cold as the weather got bad," Hamilton laughed. "I was always out there moving around. Sometimes I got tired, but I just always thought about how I wanted to keep making plays for my teammates.

"The losses were tough for all of us. It's easy to get down. You just wish you could be a part of a winning team. But I know it will eventually happen at Mundelein. We have so many people putting a lot into the program. I see success in the future."

Sticker shock: New Grant head coach Vito Andriola dangled a few carrots in front of his team at the beginning of the season.

One was that the players would get the logo stickers for their helmets only after their third win of the season. Until then, plain red helmets.

The Bulldogs are still waiting for their third win, and their stickers.

But you've got to believe that Andriola was extremely tempted to break out the stickers after Win No. 2. It was a pretty special win after all, perhaps one of the most electrifying in Lake County this season.

Down 23-6 to Wauconda in the third quarter in Week 6, the Bulldogs scored three touchdowns to take a 26-23 lead late in the game. But, amazingly, Wauconda stormed back to score a touchdown with seven seconds left to regain the lead, 29-26.

And yet, Grant still wasn't ready to wave the white flag.

"No one was giving up," Grant junior offensive lineman Isaac Ryczek said. "No one stopped."

The Bulldogs had one more shot to score. There was a single second left on the clock and they were 60 yards out. Somehow, Grant quarterback Spencer Lhotka found Jeremy Bredwood for a 60-yard touchdown pass that gave Grant a 32-29 win.

"I think I stopped breathing when I saw that," Ryczek said of Bredwood's immaculate reception. "He out-jumped a defender to get the ball, he caught it at around the 30 and then ran for a little bit. No one could believe it. We were all freaking out. Everyone was like, 'Did we just win?'

"There weren't many fans left in the stands by then. Everyone had left. Everyone had thought we were going to lose. For us to come back like that was amazing. It was crazy. We had guys crying."

There were far too many tears of pain for the Bulldogs this season.

Ryczek, the Bulldogs' center, says that his team can avoid those in the future by getting tougher in the weight room during the off-season.

"I know I want to get stronger in the weight room for next season. We all need to," Ryczek said. "Since we got new coaches, our weights weren't very structured last year during the off-season. That hurt us. I think that will be a lot better this year. We'll be stronger. We'll be a lot better next year.

"Everyone knows that it takes time to get a new program started. It takes time to learn all the new stuff and to get used to new coaches and what they like. I think we know that the more time we put in, it's going to get better."

Mr. Consistent: Injuries took their toll on Round Lake this season.

Key players were dropping left and right for the Panthers. Even starting quarterback Cole Steger missed a majority of the season with a leg injury.

Somehow, running back Chris Perry dodged the injury bug about as effectively as he dodges defenders.

"He was one of a few guys for us who was not injured this season," Round Lake coach Jordan Eder said. "That was good for us, but I know it was hard for Chris. Everyone around him was getting injured, so a lot of defenses keyed on him every play."

Yet, Perry rolled up the yardage for Round Lake and is the team's leading rusher with more than 400 yards.

"He runs hard on every play," Eder said of Perry. "He earned every single yard."

Perry also earned his teammates' respect several times over. As frustration mounted with the ever-expanding injury list, Perry tried to keep everyone positive and on task.

"That's not easy to do when you're struggling as a team," Eder said. "But Chris was that leader that we really needed. He was that guy who would speak up in the huddle and keep everyone focused. He'd get the messages across to the players that we were trying to get across.

"It meant a lot to have a leader like Chris this season. I think he had an effect on everyone. I think all our guys tried to fight through the adversity as well as they could knowing how big that was for our program and its future, even though it would not reward them directly. That's not an easy thing to do."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

Follow Patricia on Twitter: @babcockmcgraw