Grayslake Central falls short against Woodstock N.

There was no defense on this night for that sure-fire tight end, Luke Shepherd.

The Grayslake Central senior played tight end, full back and his most familiar position, quarterback, on Friday night.

He caught his team's first pass of the night. He scored the team's second touchdown.

Alas, the Rams' 18-game losing streak continued on this night despite all that.

Woodstock North (4-3) intercepted 4 Central passes. Two Thunder touchdowns were scored on the first play from scrimmage.

However, there was no crying or throwing stuff by these Rams. Heads were held high despite the 35-14 loss to the Thunder.

The Rams had one of the three 100-yard rushers on this night. It belonged to the

player they call The Plow. Mikey Andrews had his named called 17 times, good for 108 yards.

“That was our game plan,'' said Grayslake Central coach Jason Schaal. “We wanted Mikey to get a lot of carries. We got some first downs and we led 7-6. We still felt we were in the game at halftime (down 21-7).”

Starting quarterback Shepherd didn't complain about not starting on this night.

“Wherever I can help the team is fine with me,'' Shepherd said. “Our offensive line played great in this game.”

The contest started with a bang. One play into the contest and Woodstock North back Randall Kline was in the end zone. He beat the Rams' defense on a 55-yard scoring run. He would score again en route to 17 carries and 177 yards.

“We made a couple of mistakes,'' Schaal said.

This time, in this trying season, the Rams answered that score and actually went ahead. On Andrews' sixth carry of the first quarter, he broke loose from 16 yards out and the Rams had that 7-6 lead.

Kline answered in the last minute of the quarter and the Thunder never looked back.

Again a big one-play drive put a dagger into Central's chance at its first victory. North's first carry of the second half went 85 yards for the score.

That other 100-yard rusher was Woodstock quarterback Matt Zinnen. He finished with 130 yards rushing on just 8 carries.

Again, the four picks hurt the Rams offense on this night. With Shepherd back in his familiar spot at quarterback, the Rams offense started to click in the final quarter. This very big back carried on back-to-back plays, netting a first down. Shepherd then found Ben Schrimpf for an 18-yard strike. Schaal called it his best catch of the season.

Shepherd took it home from 10 yards out for the game's final tally.

“This team works hard every day so that's all a coach can ask for,'' Schaal said.

The Rams (0-7) head for rivalry week against Grayslake North.

“Throw the records out for that game,'' Schaal said.