Grayslake North quickly gets it going at Round Lake

Scoring early and often was the name of the game for visiting Grayslake North on Friday night at Round Lake.

The Knights took full advantage of their big-play offense as they built a commanding 42-0 lead over the Panthers at halftime of this Northern Lake County Conference contest.

With a running clock for the entire second half, Grayslake North (4-1, 2-1) rolled to a 49-6 victory over Round Lake (0-5, 0-3) as the Panthers were able to avoid a shutout late in the fourth quarter.

After an onside kick attempt to open the game by Round Lake failed, the Knights got rolling right away on offense.

A 32-yard run by Dami Oladunmoye started the drive before sophomore quarterback Austin Martineau hit junior teammate Elliott Hochstiein with a 32-yard touchdown pass two plays later to put Grayslake North on the scoreboard just 1:06 into the game. The first of five extra points by Danny Perez made the score 7-0.

A critical miscue on a third-and-15 play really cost the Panthers on their opening drive as Grayslake North's Zach Carter recovered an errant, fumbled pitch at the Round Lake 6-yard-line.

Oladunmoye (3 carries for 42 yards) had a 5-yard run to take the ball to the 1-yard-line, but he sustained an apparent ankle injury on the play and he missed the rest of the game. Oladunmoye had missed the first two games of the season due to an off-season injury.

The Knights turned to senior Griffin Gawenda (3 carries for 75 yards) in Oladunmoye's absence, and Gawenda easily scored on a 1-yard run up the middle for a quick 14-0 advantage.

Led by junior quarterback Alex Larson, the Panthers put together a pretty good drive on their next possession. But they ultimately turned the ball over on downs at the Grayslake North 33-yard-line.

After gaining 5 yards on a penalty, the Knights' big-play offense struck again as Gawenda went up the middle before breaking right and going 62 yards for the touchdown and a 21-0 lead with 3:23 left in the first quarter.

A big kickoff return by Round Lake's Justin Langwinski gave the Panthers good field position again. But this time they tried a fake punt on fourth down and they fell 1-yard short of a first down.

It only took one play for the Knights to capitalize as Martineau (5-for-6, 145 yards) found teammate Brett Lila 1-on-1 near the right sideline as Lila would go for a 48-yard TD pass and a commanding 28-0 lead with 48.2 seconds left in the opening quarter.

"We played good as a team, our offensive line did a great job, and Bubba (Hochstein) is having a great season," said Martineau, who only played one half. "We've been working on option choices that me and the receivers see, and we were able to break tackles and score long touchdowns."

On the Knights' next possession, Martineau threw a quick pass to Hochstein who maneuvered through traffic and down the left sideline for a 40-yard TD and a 35-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Panthers got to the North 18-yard-line on their ensuing possession before an incomplete pass ended a potential scoring drive.

Then after a four-and-out by the Knights, a bad snap by Round Lake on a punt attempt gave North the ball on the Panthers' 21-yard-line.

This time, Martineau found teammate Cole West with a 21-yard TD pass near the left pylon and the Knights led 42-0 shortly before halftime.

"We came out and did the things we needed to do, but it was tough losing Oladunmoye in the first quarter," said Grayslake North coach Steve Wood, whose team had 348 yards of total offense. "Gawenda really stepped up and did a great job, our sophomore quarterback (Martineau) played really well, and Elliott Hochstein had a big game."

Senior Hunter Ambre hit Lila with a 10-yard TD pass with 7:25 to play before the extra point by Nicholas Wilson boosted the lead to 49-0.

Round Lake's Alex Valladares (107 yards on 15 carries) had a 35-yard run before he scored on a 15-yard TD run moments later to account for the final score.

Larson was 8-for-22 passing for 96 yards while teammate Darrius Calhoun was 2-for-4 passing for 20 yards along with five rushes for 12 tough yards.

Round Lake's Alan Espinosa was even busier in the backfield as he carried 13 times for only 12 yards against the stubborn Knights' defense.

"Everyone on offense picked it up when Oladunmoye went down and we have a big game next week against Wauconda," said Wood, whose team will host the homecoming game. "They're going to be hungry, and they know they need to win to get in the playoff hunt."