Scouting Grayslake North at McHenry

Grayslake North (1-1) at McHenry (0-2)

When: 7:15 p.m., today

Last week: Grayslake North lost to Woodstock, 24-21; McHenry lost to St. Charles North, 62-49.

Outlook: Games in which a lot of passing is involved usually take longer to play out than those in which running plays dominate. That means that Grayslake North fans may want to prepare for a long night in McHenry. "They throw the ball at least 40 to 50 times a game," Grayslake North coach Steve Wood said of McHenry. "They chuck the ball all over the place. They're averaging 35 points a game." Wood was also quick to point out that the reason the Warriors are 0-2 is that they also give up 48 points per game. "They've been in shootouts that we don't want to be in," Wood said. "We want our defense to step up." Wood also wants his offense to be a defense by keeping the ball away from McHenry with long, well-executed, clock-churning drives. "They are fast-paced, they run a lot of plays and they're no huddle," Wood said. "The officials have to hold them back. That's how fast they want to get to the line. They've run 80 plays in one game. Offensively, we've got to help our defense by controlling the ball and putting some nice drives together. And defensively, we've got to be prepared for the mental toll of playing a team like that and we've got to get some stops."-The Grayslake North defense is led by lineman Steve Sass while sophomore quarterback A.J. Fish is more comfortable directing the offense. Last week against Woodstock, the Knights had a chance to win the game with about two minutes left. Sass and the defense forced Woodstock to the bench on a three-and-out. But an interception ended the Knights' hopes of a rally.