Ohio trip proves oh so worth it for Grayslake C.

The state of Ohio is known for its top-notch high school football programs and now, the football team at Grayslake Central knows exactly why.

The Rams took a little trip to the Buckeye State this summer to do a 7-on-7 scrimmage, Ohio style.

Head coach Nick Goshe is from Ohio and went to college with Jason Hall, the head coach at Massillon High School, which is near Canton.

Goshe and Hall, who played football together at Division III powerhouse Mount Union College, thought it would be fun to get their teams together.

According Goshe, Massillon happens to be the third-winningest high school football program in the entire United States.

"Just to give you an idea about this place, the team plays in a 20,000-seat stadium that is on its campus, and 1,000 people came out just to watch our scrimmage," Goshe said. "They've also got a 100-yard indoor practice field. Indoor. It's a different world there.

"It was such a great experience for our kids. I think it really opened up their eyes. When you see schools like that and see how they treat the game, you have no choice but to raise your level of play."

After their pit stop in Massillon, the Rams went on to Alliance, Ohio where they participated in a camp at Mount Union, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the Division III national polls.

"We focused a lot on defense there," Goshe said. "And we did a lot of 7-on-7s against other schools. It was great."

The trip was capped off with a visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

"It was a great trip," Goshe said. "We took 61 kids and I think everyone had fun and learned a lot."

Best of the best: Even though Grayslake Central lost its season opener last weekend to Johnsburg, there is reason for optimism. Particularly on the defensive side of the field.

Technically, Johnsburg outscored the Rams 12-7.

But the Johnsburg offense scored only 7 of those 12 points. Three points came on a field goal and two points came on a Grayslake Central safety.

For a team that gave up 40.3 points per game last year, the allowance of just 7 points is a significant improvement.

"We decided that we just couldn't be a shootout team again," coach Nick Goshe said. "We could score last year, but we just could not stop the other team. We decided to change our entire system."

So Goshe assigned his defensive coordinator, Ben Ault, and some of his top defensive assistants, including Danny Catanzaro, Andrew Burton and Tom Long, to research different defenses and come to the table with suggestions about the ones that could work best for the Rams.

"We also decided that for any defense to work, we need to put our very best 11 athletes on defense," Goshe said. "Some of our best 11 guys are great offensive players, too. But we decided that if they played both and they needed a rest, they'd take their rest on offense.

"That's a big commitment to make as a staff, but we felt it was important to making our defense the focus."

Goshe says that Grayslake Central's new defense shows multiple fronts and is constantly changing its look throughout the course of a game in an effort to confuse and fluster opposing offenses.

"We feel like the defense really got it done against Johnsburg," said Goshe, who cited strong performances by lineman Derrick Brown, linebackers Jim Sinclair and Nick Mandich and cornerback Mike Katona.

"We wanted to make our defense something we could hang our hat on and I think we're headed in the right direction."

Think pink: Stickers in the shape of a pink ribbon will be attached to the back of every helmet worn by a Stevenson football player this season.

No, the Patriots aren't getting in touch with their feminine side. They're supporting Breast Health and Breast Cancer Awareness. In fact, tonight's game against Glenbrook South is being billed as a "Pink Out."

The football team has joined forces with Stevenson's cheerleading and pom squads, also known as Spirit Revolution, to raise money for various breast cancer charities.

They are encouraging fans who will attend the game to purchase a pink $10 T-shirt at school that promotes the cause. More than 2,000 were put up for sale at the beginning of the week. The hope is that the stands at the football stadium will transform into a sea of pink.

"We've all had people in our lives that have been touched by breast cancer," Stevenson coach Bill Mitz said. "I've had a cousin affected. I know there are kids on the team who have been affected. It's a close-to-home subject for everyone and we're really glad to be involved."

Quick as a cat: How fast did the momentum shift in last week's wild season opener between Barrington and Libertyville?

About as fast as Damarqus Wilson can sprint up the field.

And that's fast.

After Barrington went ahead 21-8 in the final seconds of the third quarter, Wilson took a kickoff at his own 3-yard line and returned it 79 yards, which set up a touchdown and sparked Libertyville's 22-21 comeback victory.

"It was sheer excitement when I got that kickoff return," Wilson said. "I wanted to take it all the way back. I got the ball and saw an opening in the middle of the field. I hit that hole as hard as I could."

Wilson's return was an exclamation point on, well, his return. He went to Libertyville as a freshman, transferred to North Chicago for his sophomore year and now is back at Libertyville.

"I had a great year as a freshman. It was fun playing for Libertyville," Wilson said. "I had some setbacks at home and at school that required me to move back to North Chicago with my biological mom. I went through some changes down there. I'm back now and I'm happy to be back and I love playing for Libertyville and it's awesome."

Spot duty: As the intensity of last week's Barrington-Libertyville game picked up, the Libertyville secondary was getting picked off - one by one.

Senior John Notaro had already gone down with an injury in the first quarter, and then James Zotto started cramping up and was forced to the sideline.

"We were down to our third-string safety at a very crucial point in the game," Libertyville coach Randy Kuceyeski said.

That third-stringer is junior Cam Hauri, who wound up playing a whole lot more than he probably could have imagined he would.

"Well, he hadn't even taken a snap with the first-string defense all year and we needed him in there for like five or six plays," Kuceyeski said. "He did a great job. (Barrington) was trying to pass the ball when he was in there and they weren't able to complete any passes, so that's pretty good."

Less is more: Grayslake North defensive back Ross Sauer didn't get many tackles in last week's 22-6 victory over Woodstock North.

And there isn't anyone happier than Grayslake North coach Steve Wood.

It's not that Wood has anything against Sauer, he would just prefer that the guys in his secondary aren't leading the team in tackles. When that happens, it usually means that the opposing offense is gobbling up tons of yardage en route to the secondary.

"Last year, Ross was one of our leading tacklers, last week, our linebackers led the team in tackles, which is the way it should be," Wood said. "Defense has been our Achilles heel in the past. We changed our scheme and I think that's helped a bit and we're making the tackles earlier."

The Grayslake North defense was pitching a shutout for most of the game until Woodstock North scored a touchdown in the waning minutes.

Perfect conditions: Add Grayslake North to the growing list of schools in Lake County that have converted their grass football fields to artificial turf.

And add Grayslake North coach Steve Wood as turf's latest No. 1 fan.

"It has been absolutely electrifying using that field so far," Wood said. "It has been such a nice, nice addition. The kids have really enjoyed it. It was a long time coming."

Ever since Grayslake North opened its doors in 2007, the field has had drainage issues. School officials tried to correct the problems, but nothing seemed to work.

"The district tried its best, but I think they finally got to the point where (turf) just seemed like the best option," Wood said. "We're so happy with it. You don't have to worry about the condition of the field, if the kids are going to slip or get hurt. The consistency of it is second to none. It's always perfect."

And so are the 1-0 Knights.

Double duty: Officially, Brandon Sackett is a defensive lineman. At least that's what the Grayslake North roster says. But last week in the Knights' win over Woodstock North, Sackett also got some reps in on offense. Some very good reps.

"We just needed a spark on offense and Brandon is our back-up fullback," Wood said. "We put him in there and he gave us a spark and more."

Sackett rolled up 108 yards on just 7 carries, including a 55-yard touchdown run.

Standing Pat: The race for the starting quarterback spot at Warren was competitive until the very end.

There were so many similarities between the two candidates. Heck, even their first names are the same.

But ultimately, sophomore Patrick Kenney got the nod over senior Patrick Oliver to start last week's season opener against New Trier.

"We have two very good quarterbacks," Warren coach Dave Mohapp said. "It was a great competition from start to finish. Those two guys really pushed each other. Kenney was just a little bit ahead."

Kenney guided the Blue Devils to a 20-6 victory over New Trier, but Mohapp says that doesn't mean things are cemented necessarily.

"It's always open, in terms of the quarterback spot." Mohapp said. "Kenney did a good job, but Oliver is a good player, too. We'll just have to see how things go."

Hands-on situation: You've heard of rain dances. Well, Mundelein quarterback Brian Santiago might dance for no rain for the rest of the fall.

The wet conditions during last week's 26-0 season-opening loss to Buffalo Grove didn't seem to bother Santiago when he tucked the ball under his arm and made a run for it. He tallied 52 rushing yards, second-highest on the team.

But when Santiago tried to throw, that's when things got tough. He completed just 4-of-15 passes for 47 yards and an interception.

"Brian has small hands and shorter fingers to begin with so when the ball is wet and slippery, it makes it that much harder to get his hand on top of the football and control it," Mustangs coach Bob Stone said.

• Mike McGraw contributed.