Conant, Lakes, Elk Grove, Buffalo Grove, Hoffman Estates among Friday’s football winners
Conant has run to turn the tide.
After suffering through a 15-game losing streak that covered 713 calendar days, the Cougars picked up their second consecutive victory in a span of just 8 days.
Jackson Spizzirri’s one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter helped Conant (2-2) pile up 387 yards, all on the ground, to knock off Deerfield 25-18 Friday in Hoffman Estates.
Spizzirri (27 carries, 178 yards) had three had three touchdowns on runs of eight, five and one yards. He also had a two-point conversion run. Nathan Kutella (16 carries, 144 yards) had a 22-yard scoring run.
“I couldn’t be happier for our kids and our school,” Conant coach Anthony Donatucci said. “It’s been exciting to see their hard work pay off. Our running game has been really effective in helping us control the ball and set the tone offensively. That starts up front. Our offensive linemen have been doing a tremendous job executing and creating opportunities.”
Lakes 21, Grayslake Central 20: Lakes (3-1, 2-0) beat the Rams for the first time in the last four tries to equal their best start since 2021.
Ean Ankey threw touchdown passes to Will Mercure for 64 yards and Trent Miller for 30 yards on a tunnel screen to make it 14-0. After Grayslake Central rallied to pull ahead 20-14, the Eagles came back to regain the lead on a 37-yard run by Mason Crowly and the third successful extra point kick by Jordan Phelan.
Zayvon Franklin had an 80-yard touchdown run for Grayslake Central (1-3, 0-2). Nick Nordberg scored on runs of 10 and one yard. The Rams, who missed an extra point earlier, also failed on a 39-yard field goal in the closing moments.
Elk Grove 24, Deerfield 17: Elk Grove (1-3) moved the needle over to the victory side. The Grenadiers (1-3) got a trio of touchdown catches from Ryan Tanner (5 receptions, 109 yards), including a 54-yard strike from Luke Maher. Nathan Dean threw the first two touchdown passes.
Buffalo Grove 42, Glenbrook North 20: Matthew Kaput (21 carries, 128 yards) scored all six of the Buffalo Grove touchdowns as the Bison won their second in a row. Kaput caught a 26-yard pass from Grady Boeche (20-of-26, 242 yards). He then added touchdown runs of 1, 12, 1 and 63 yards. Kaput also had a 75-yard interception return. Matthew Hong had a big day as well with 9 catches for 133 yards and 68 yards rushing for the Bison.
Hoffman Estates 24, Evanston 7: The Hawks made it two in a row against the largest schools in the Central Suburban League. Austin Lesniak (15-of-34, 203 yards) fired touchdown passes of 11 and 25 yards to TJ Bond (3 receptions, 53 yards). Landon Ford (25 carries, 87 yards) had a four-yard touchdown run while Simon Horwath booted a 40-yard field goal. Torey Baskin had five catches for 63 yards for Hoffman.
Carmel 21, St. Laurence 14: Carmel forced three turnovers, two of which were interceptions by Jorden Moore and Kevin Murphy, and both led to touchdowns as the Corsairs (3-1, 1-0) won in their CCL/ESCC opener.
Rolling Meadows 72, Maine East 0: The Mustangs (3-1), bolted to a 51-0 halftime lead and never looked back as Meadows pitched its second consecutive shutout.
Niles North 56, Wheeling 42: The Wildcats (1-3) lost in a shootout to the Vikings (1-3). Christian Campos (21 carries, 235 yards) ran for three touchdowns and threw another to John Scanlon but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats (1-3) lost in a shootout to the Vikings (1-3). Juliani Saldivar had 7 carries for 48 yards and two touchdowns for Wheeling.
Hersey 56, Niles West 0: Hersey (2-2) posted its second consecutive shutout. Jake Nawrot fired six touchdown passes and finished 12-of-17 for 245 yards in just one half of football. He also ran for a score while Brandon Jenkins (9 carries, 137 yards) also had a touchdown run. Jenkins also caught a pair of touchdown passes to go along with Tyler Wentick (4 receptions, 84 yards), who also caught two. Josh Riggs (3 receptions, 84 yards) and Austin Schultz each caught a touchdown pass.
Grant 41, North Chicago 18: Max Hembry caught five passes for 103 yards and three touchdowns as Grant (3-1, 1-1) pulled away in the fourth quarter. Doltyn Longtin rushed 20 times for 208 yards and three touchdowns while Matthew Gipson was 9-of-18 for 158 yards.
Antioch 70, Round Lake 12: Antioch (4-0, 2-0) busted out to a 49-6 lead. Logan Lennon had a pair of rushing touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass from Colin Arquilla. Gavin Stone had a pair of touchdown runs while KJ Coppins had a pair of long touchdown runs. Evan West (16-33, 291 yards) threw a pair of touchdown passes to Devin Powell (8 receptions, 126 yards) and Marqus Ries (5 receptions, 121 yards) for Round Lake.
Schaumburg 49, Vernon Hills 7: Ray Black took the opening kickoff 95 yards as the Saxons (3-1) rolled. Vince Heydecker (11 carries, 97 yards) tallied four times on runs of 55, 16 and 32 yards. He also had a 44-yard punt return. Xavier Tudela (15 carries, 130 yards) also had a big night scoring on runs of four and one yards as the Saxons had 253 rushing yards. They also limited Vernon Hills to 77 yards of total offense. Lex Sarantos had a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown for Vernon Hills (1-3).
Warren 51, Waukegan 0: Aaron Stewart and Warren (3-1, 2-0) were too much for Waukegan. Stewart scored five times and finished with 17 carries for 204 yards. Royce Lopez added a 20-yard fumble return for a touchdown while Carvel Hodges had a 61-yard kickoff return for another score. Warren’s defense held Waukegan (0-4, 0-2) to -65 yards rushing and -36 yards overall.
York 56, Leyden 0: Defending Class 8A runner-up York (3-1) was too much for Leyden (1-3). The Eagles, who were playing without running back Luca Latiker who was injured last week, had 98 yards of total offense.