Lakes makes it past Grayslake Central
Grayslake Central's football team traveled to Polley Field on Friday night, hoping to crash Lakes' homecoming festivities in the two teams' first matchup as members of the Northern Lake County Conference.
The Rams hung tough with the Eagles for most of the first half, but the latter part of the second quarter saw the Eagles put up 21 points in a hurry. The outburst was part of a 28-point second quarter for Lakes and set the tone for its 59-19 victory.
"Full credit goes to Lakes," said Grayslake Central coach Jason Schaal. "(Coach) Luke (Mertens) has a great program here. We're at the five-minute mark (of the second quarter) and it's a 14-7 ballgame. Then things start to snowball in the wrong direction. That's on me. We have to be able to stop that and prevent that from happening."
The avalanche came in the form of three Eagles touchdowns. The first came on a 74-yard drive capped by Ryan Selig's run up the middle from 13 yards out. After a quick three-and-out for the Rams, Lakes (4-2, 4-0) put together a four-play drive that ended with Selig hauling in a 28 yard strike from quarterback Brandon Khan.
Moments later, the Rams' Bryce Gnaidek caught a pass but then fumbled. Diego Torrez scooped up the ball and raced 30 yards for the score to put the Eagles ahead 35-7.
"I'm going to start by thanking the (offensive line)," said Selig, who added another receiving touchdown. "They got it done up front, and everything else just opened up after that,"
Grayslake Central (1-5, 1-3) took advantage of an early first-quarter Cameron Ruiz fumble. Rams running back Mikey Andrews plowed into the end zone with four Eagles on his back.
But the Northwestern-bound Ruiz quickly atoned for the mistake by racing up the middle, then bouncing left for a 50-yard touchdown scamper. Ruiz (14 carries, 134 yards) then started the second quarter by scoring on a 24-yard touchdown run.
"I saw my linemen blocking well, and I just had to run through the holes," said Ruiz. "They did all the work for me."
Ruiz's quarterback had praise for how Ruiz brought the Eagles back early on.
"He's huge, especially when we have a slower start," said Khan. "You have someone like that who can pick up the energy and gives us all confidence."
The Eagles also tallied touchdown runs from Ethan Greenfield and D.J. Watts. Jake Keenan added a 27-yard field goal.
Grayslake Central's Austin Wagner returned a Lakes fumble 60 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. Rams quarterback Sam Lennartz scored on the final play of the game from 5 yards out.