Wauconda withstands N. Chicago's finish
After taking a 34-6 lead over visiting North Chicago into the fourth quarter, it looked like Wauconda was going to coast to an easy victory Friday night in this North Suburban Conference Prairie Division game.
But the final outcome turned out to be way too close for comfort for the Bulldogs on senior night as the Warhawks put together a furious fourth-quarter rally against many reserves before coming up just a little bit short as Wauconda held on for a narrow 34-26 victory to snap a 5-game losing streak.
North Chicago (1-6, 1-3) cut the lead to 34-12 with 11:55 to play on a 4-yard TD run by Marvin Warfield as a bad snap on a punt had given the Warhawks the ball on the Wauconda 26-yard line.
Then after the Bulldogs' next drive stalled, North Chicago quarterback Jermaine Garrett hit Darrell Robinson with a 16-yard TD pass. A 2-point conversion pass made the score 34-20 before Wauconda (2-5, 1-3) was forced to punt on its ensuing drive with 2:54 to play.
Senior Keenan Handy worked his magic on the short, 23-yard punt as he navigated his way through the Bulldogs' special team on his way to a 66-yard punt return for the TD to cut the gap to 34-26 as the 2-point pass failed.
The Warhawks tried on onside kick, but the heavily contested battle for the ball was awarded to the Bulldogs as Wauconda senior Robert Rosetti was credited with recovering the kick despite North Chicago claiming it had the ball at the bottom of the pile.
From there, Wauconda was forced to bring its starters back into the game and they were able to salt away the victory with its ground game as the Warhawks had no timeouts left.
The contest marked the first time that North Chicago coach Glen Kozlowski was returning home to face his former team as Kozlowski coached Wauconda for seven seasons, ending two years ago.
"They're going to keep plugging away and it's senior night so we put in a lot of kids who deserved to play," said Wauconda coach Dave Mills, who was Kozlowski's college roommate at BYU. "We had to go back to the starters to get a couple of first downs because they were out of timeouts. Glen and I will always compete, it's always going to be fun, and it's always going to be interesting."
The first quarter was a scoreless tie, but the second quarter was dominated by the Bulldogs as they took a 28-6 lead into halftime behind the play of senior quarterback Brian Kent.
Kent opened the scoring with a 5-yard TD run before he added a 40-yard TD run with 8:21 left in the second quarter. Then Kent hit Jake Ziolkowski with a 25-yard TD pass near the right pylon before Kevin Carpentier's third extra point made the score 21-0 7:05 before halftime.
The Warhawks cut the gap to 21-6 on a 21-yard TD pass from Garrett to Robinson with 45 seconds left in the first half. But Kent lofted a high 44-yard TD pass to Brandon Dorsey just 27 seconds later to make the score 28-6 at the intermission.
Kent had another huge game despite limping off the field late in the first half as he re-aggravated a previous knee injury. In the end Kent rushed for 135 yards on 11 attempts along with 8-for-13 passing for 172 yards for a total of 307 yards.
"I was very happy with our performance, it was great to get a win, and the offensive line was the key to the victory," said Kent. "We missed some opportunities in the first quarter, but we definitely capitalized in the second quarter and we knew we could get it going."
The Bulldogs and Kent got it going right away again on their first possession of the third quarter as Kent bolted through the North Chicago defense en route to a 49-yard TD run and a 34-6 lead with 8:52 left in the period.
The Wauconda substitutes started to enter the contest late in the third quarter, but they really struggled moving the ball and the Warhawks were able to make the game very interesting in the end despite coming up just short for Kozlowski.
"Wauconda outplayed us for three quarters and that is why they won the game, but I'm proud of how our kids fought," said Kozlowski, whose team had 12 penalties for 110 yards. "It was enjoyable and I still love the (Wauconda) community. But I'm a Warhawk now and I love coaching my kids."
Wauconda's Tim Martin rushed for 53 yards on 11 carries while teammate Calvin Weeder added 49 yards on 7 attempts. Handy led North Chicago with 71 yards on 8 rushes while Warfield had 62 yards on 14 carries. Garrett threw for 67 yards, but he only completed 4-of-17 passes.