CL South finishes off Grayslake Central

Slow starts are starting to become commonplace for Crystal Lake South in the early stages of the season.

But so long as South keeps finishing games, like it did in their road contest at Grayslake Central on Friday night, things will be just fine for coach Chuck Ahsmann and the Gators.

South fell behind briefly, then rattled off 34 unanswered points, including 24 in the second half to hand Central its first loss of the year, 34-3 in Grayslake Friday night.

"We knew coming in that these guys were good and that this was not the Grayslake of old," Ahsmann said. "We came out a little flat, but we made some adjustments at halftime and I think we did a good job of shutting them down in the second half."

The second-half explosion started right away for South (3-0). A 10-play drive, which culminated in one of Brad Walovitch's 2 field goals, gave the Gators a 13-3 cushion with 5:02 remaining in the quarter.

The Gators defense did its part on the next series. Junior linebacker Steve Forner pounced on a loose ball to set up the South offense deep in Grayslake territory. Five plays later, Drew Ormseth found Kenny Bambini in the corner of the end zone and the lead had grown to 20-3.

"In the second half we just started to power over their defense," Ormseth said. "In the first half we made some mistakes that cost us some big plays, but we did a good job of eliminating the mistakes and coming up with big plays in the second half."

South lost starting running back Bolek Mikulec on that drive, but Kenny King and Reese Dziedzic stepped in and didn't miss a beat.

The Gator offense amassed 164 yards on the ground in the second half as they wore down the smaller Grayslake defense.

"I think you learn from a team like Crystal Lake South that's been there and done that," Grayslake coach Nick Goshe said. "Defensively, we ask our guys to do a lot and when we aren't moving the ball on offense, it kind of puts us behind the eight ball."

Central (2-1) started out fast, thanks to a Gators turnover as Ormseth was sacked by Jake Paust and fumbled. Will Reed was in the right spot for the Rams as he recovered the Gators' only miscue of the night.

The Rams marched down the field before settling for a 25-yard Jon Gurchak field goal and a 3-0 lead.

"We have to come back tomorrow, look at the film then forget about it and get ready for Jacobs," said Grayslake senior Cam Neely. "From the beginning of the year, our goal has been the playoffs and we need to keep pushing to get there."

South tacked on a pair of late scores, a 59-yard run by King and a 23-yard run from John Sullivan.