Carlson connection leads Grayslake Central over rival

The Battle of Grayslake on Thursday took on significance in regards to how the rest of the season might go.

Grayslake Central and Grayslake North entered with identical 1-2 records, so the winner would have more room for error in making a playoff push. That winner was Grayslake Central, 34-7.

The story of the first half was the brother tandem of Brady and Bryce Carlson. Senior quarterback Brady (137 passing yards, four touchdown passes) hit sophomore receiver Bryce (52 receiving yards) for scoring passes of 12, 9 and 24 yards to account for all the scoring in that half.

That merriment was unceremoniously cut short when Bryce Carlson suffered a right ankle sprain late in the half and ended his evening with a boot and crutches. Still, the brothers had done enough together to give the Rams (2-2) the victory.

With Bryce Carlson out, the Rams turned to their running game in the second half to bring them home. Leading that attack was Romeo Reyes, who picked up 113 yards on 18 carries. Reyes never found the end zone, but Colton Ohm did from 5 yards out in the third quarter.

The Knights (1-3) got on the board on the first possession of the second half with a 1-yard touchdown run by Dominique Pulliam. Quarterback Mitchell Hughes threw for 156 yards with 3 interceptions.

It was a night of highlights for the Rams' defense. Johnny Lindberg-Sage provided the game's first interception to set up the second Carlson-to-Carlson touchdown. The third was made possible when Jordan Cleaves recovered a muffed punt return.

Of most historic significance was a Matty Jens tackle on the Knights' scoring drive that made the senior linebacker the Rams' all-time tackling leader at 151, breaking a record set in 1976.