Senior quarterback A.J. Fish scored six touchdowns to lead Grayslake North to a 56-21 victory over Jacobs on Friday night.
The Knights got off to a blistering start as they racked up 352 yards of total offense in the first half. They fell behind early on a 15-yard touchdown grab by Jacobs’ Hunter Williams, but behind the arm and legs of Fish, Grayslake North struck back and stayed ahead for good.
“Everyone else played great, everyone around me,” Fish said. “They caught the ball, our line played phenomenal, and I just took what the defense gave me.”
What they gave him was 18 of 28 passing for 313 yards and two touchdowns. He was even more impressive on the ground, where he had 4 touchdowns. Fish carried the ball for a total of 141 yards on 15 attempts.
The highlight play of the evening came on a second-quarter touchdown run by Fish, where he flashed a spin move and barreled into the end zone to put Grayslake North up 28-7.
The gutsy run was just 1 of 3 rushing scores for the Knights in what was an impressive second quarter. The Knights didn't kick up their heels in the second half. Fish opened the third quarter with an 8-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Anthony Diggs. Diggs had 4 catches for 84 yards as well as one carry for 33 yards.
North's biggest play of the night was a 60-yard pass from Fish to Diggs in the second quarter. The Knights took care of the bulk of the scoring in the first two quarters, but they added two scores in the second half.
“[Having a big first half] is kind of the story of our season,” Fish said. “We’re trying to focus on the second half.”
Jacobs’ offense showed spurts of explosiveness but wasn’t able to keep up with North’s fireworks.
Quarterback Bret Mooney threw two touchdowns, but struggled to complete passes as he went 15 for 37 and threw two interceptions.
Jacobs 7 7 0 7 - 21 Grayslake North 21 21 14 0 - 56 First quarter J–Williams 15 pass from Mooney (kick good), 9:42. GN–Booker 16 run (Guzman kick), 7:36. GN–Fish 15 run (Guzman kick), 4:15. GN–Pine 13 pass from Fish (Guzman kick), 0:33. Second quarter GN–Fish 28 run (Guzman kick), 11:05. GN–Booker 60 pass from Fish (Guzman kick), 9:04. GN–Fish 28 run (Guzman kick), 4:11. J–Varela 5 run (Guzman kick), 1:21. Third quarter GN–Diggs 8 pass from Fish (Guzman kick), 3:19. GN–Fish 1 run (Guzman kick), 1:35. Fourth quarter J–Varela 12 pass from Mooney (kick good), 2:06.