Grant eats up Lakes
The Taco Bell in Fox Lake was hopping Friday night.
The fast-food restaurant got a nice plug from the Grant student section during the waning moments of a North Suburban Conference Prairie Division tilt between the host Bulldogs and Lakes.
“Ta-co Bell, Ta-co Bell,” the hungry teenagers yelled.
“It's where the entire team goes after every game, home or away, win or loss,” Grant senior quarterback Leo Minne said of the Taco Bell in town. “We go and eat and hang out with our friends and fans.”
Even after losses? Really?
“I wouldn't have gone if we had lost tonight,” Minne said. “Well, maybe I would have because I'm really hungry. But it would have been in and out.”
Minne and his teammates probably felt like lingering a bit after they downed their tacos this time.
Not only did the Bulldogs storm to a decisive 35-14 victory over Lakes in a game that was chopped up with a 30-minute lightning delay, they also gave themselves an excellent chance to live another day.
Grant needed to win the game to have even a shot at the state playoffs. They entered the evening with a 4-4 record and now have the minimum five wins needed for playoff consideration on points.
Considering the Bulldogs boast a Prairie Division-best 38 playoff points and are among the point leaders of 5-4 teams in Class 6A, chances are good that they'll qualify for the playoffs.
The playoff field, which will automatically include 6-3 Lakes, will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. tonight on IHSA TV (check your cable provider for channel).
“Everyone was really fired up at practice this week,” said Grant junior defensive lineman Quinton Quarles, who made his presence felt in the Lakes backfield throughout the game. “We knew what we needed to do.”
“It feels amazing,” Minne echoed. “We faced that adversity (of being in a do-or-die situation) and now we're here. We pulled through.”
If anything, the Bulldogs rode through. On the back of senior fullback Steven Niewiedzial.
Niewiedzial was like a bulldozer, plowing his way through the Lakes defense for yard after yard, touchdown after touchdown.
“You can't let up,” Niewiedzial said. “You always have to keep your focus and once you get that momentum, it just carries on the rest of the game.”
Niewiedzial scored two first-quarter touchdowns for Grant (on runs of 24 and 34 yards), and his motor kept humming from there.
He finished with a game-high 185 yards on 30 carries while scoring three of Grant's five touchdowns.
“He's a workhorse,” Minne said of Niewiedzial, his longtime friend. “He'll be the first one in the weight room and the last one out. He's one of the most dedicated guys I know. We've played together since first grade and I just love him to death.”
Meanwhile, Lakes was loving almost nothing about the game.
The Eagles, who were held to just 7 rushing yards and 146 yards overall, fell behind 12-0 by the end of the first quarter.
They took a 14-12 lead by scoring 2 touchdowns in the second quarter (both on passes from quarterback Chris Hoffman), but that was short-lived as Grant jumped right back into the driver's seat midway through the third quarter.
“We came out flat in the second half,” Hoffman said. “We didn't execute like we wanted to and they were just really tough.”
The Bulldogs seemed to get even tougher in the third quarter when they moved Minne from quarterback to running back and inserted backup quarterback Alex Villa under center. Villa proceeded to score 2 touchdowns within eight minutes of each other, on a 22-yard run and on a 25-yard run.
His second touchdown gave Grant a commanding 28-14 lead with 9:59 left in the game.
“They (the Lakes defense) were following me the whole game,” said Minne, who rushed for 96 yards on 21 carries. “(Moving Villa to quarterback) gave Steve (Niewiedzial) and Alex a chance to break some runs. I'll take that all day long.”
And a few tacos, too.