Ormseth rallies CL South past Grant
Crystal Lake South's huge offensive line is the real, but the player who wheels and deals is the Gators' quarterback, who's shorter than his listed 5 feet 11.
"Five-ten," revealed Drew Ormseth, smiling.
Ormseth's third season as the varsity's starting QB got off to a big start - after a slow start by his team - as he rallied visiting Crystal Lake South to a 41-12 win over upset-minded Grant in a nonconference season opener in Fox Lake on Friday night.
Ormseth's effort helped make it a successful head-coaching debut for former defensive coordinator Chuck Ahsmann.
"It's outstanding," said Ahsmann, who's in his 27th year of coaching but first as a head coach. "This is the most nervous I've been in probably 15 years. It was actually a good feeling."
Ormseth rushed for 163 yards on just 6 carries. It was his ad-libbed 64-yard run that pulled Crystal Lake South even, after Grant had basically controlled the first quarter and a half.
"He's fast and quick," Grant defensive end David Gahgan said. "He got the outside and we just couldn't stop him."
A ball-controlled offense led by quarterback Leo Minne (22 carries, 85 yards, 1 touchdown) and fullback Steven Niewiedzial (17 carries, 113 yards) had Grant feeling confident after one quarter.
And when Alex Villa kicked his second field to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead with 7:59 left in the first half, the home team had run 29 plays to South's 9.
"It was basically just the line," said Niewiedzial, giving credit to Gahgan, Shane Wiker, Jake Mraz, sophomores Dan Haeffele and Jared Lalanda, and tight end Chris Orc. "If the line didn't let me have room to cut, then I wouldn't have had anywhere to go."
But on the Gators' ensuing possession, the elusive Ormseth bootlegged, zigged, zagged and busted tackles en route to his game-tying run, a backbreaker for Grant. Bolek Mikulec's kick, officially, gave South the lead.
"Great downfield blocking," Ormseth said. "I cut it back, and my big right tackle, Fahn Cooper, was there to help me out. Just great blocking all around."
After a three-and-out by Grant, South got the ball back and Mikulec busted off a 51-yard TD run. He finished with 109 yards on 19 carries and 2 TDs. He and Ormseth ran behind Jake Bernstein (6-4, 280), Phil Hespen (6-4, 290), Ed Atkinson (6-2, 220), Andy Garces (5-11, 255) and Cooper (6-6, 300).
"I thought we fought pretty good against their big guys," Gahgan said. "We dove in and stuck in hard. It was just a matter of who wanted it more."
In the end, Ormseth was too much. He also threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Brad Walovitch.
"Drew is outstanding at running the football, and that's one of the things we want to do this year," Ahsmann said. "Not that some of those (runs) were by design. Some of those were on his own. He's such a good athlete."