Crystal Lake Central ‘D’ smothers Grayslake North

THE SKINNY

The battle between the Fox Valley Fox’s two best teams wasn’t much of a battle at all, as Crystal Lake Central (5-1, 3-0) shut down a Grayslake North no-huddle offense that came in averaging 41 points a game and rolled to a 35-6 victory.

TURNING POINT

In the first two quarters, Crystal Lake Central’s defense stopped Grayslake North (5-1, 3-1) on downs at the Tiger 7 and 26 yard lines, and took sophomore quarterback Merrick Gentile completely out of the game, allowing him to go 1-for-7 passing and gain 18 yards in 16 rushes in a half that ended 14-6. The Tiger defense also forced field goals by halting drives at the 5 and 20.

THE STAR

Tiger quarterback Kyle Levand completed 13 of 25 passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns with one pick. He also rushed nine times for 57 yards and a score.

BY THE NUMBERS

Grayslake North’s points came on field goals of 37 and 22 yards by Bernard Drewno. The Knights’ vaunted offense had just 161 total yards, stymied by a defense led by Nathan Talbott. Gentile finished 5-of-15 passing for 66 yards and had 20 carries for minus-11 yards rushing before being replaced. North halfback Titus Booker carried 23 times for 81 yards. Ryan Williams had 15 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown for the winners. The Tigers had 388 yards of offense.

QUOTABLE

“The No. 1 thing was our defense tonight. Grayslake North has put up how many points in the first five games? Our defense not giving up a touchdown, holding them to two field goals … they were outstanding. That gave us confidence offensively to just go out there and do our thing.” — Levand.