ALGONQUIN – Coming into its fourth game of the season, the Jacobs football team knew that its opponent, Grayslake Central, had been struggling with turnovers to start the season.
The Golden Eagles defense didn’t make things any easier for the Rams, forcing three turnovers in the first six minutes of the game, which helped set the stage for their dominating 42-6 win in Fox Valley Conference crossover play.
“We’re just trying to get better each week, and we’re doing that,” Jacobs head coach Bill Mitz said.
“We made some adjustments after the first game and we’re hitting on all cylinders now and making some good plays. We still have a lot of stuff to correct to get to where we want to be in the next coming weeks.”
After losing their opening game of the season to Barrington, 37-0, the Golden Eagles (3-1) have outscored their opponents 133-26. They hadn’t surrendered a point in nearly two full games before Grayslake Central scored with under three minutes to play Friday night.
Jacobs junior Brenden Heiss was one of the big contributors for the defense. Heiss recovered a Rams (0-4) fumble with four minutes left in the first quarter and took it 17 yards back for the touchdown. The score gave Jacobs the 14-0 lead at the time.
“We wanted to come out playing hard and try to force the ball on the ground, which happened early,” Heiss said. “We knew if we came out and played good defense that we were going to win.”
Heiss later contributed directly to the offense when he came in to play a series at quarterback in the second half. Heiss scored on a two-yard run to make it 42-0. He ran the ball five times for 32 yards.
Josh Walker had another big game for Jacobs with 227 all-purpose yards (164 on the ground, 63 receiving), including a 95-yard touchdown run and a 65-yard touchdown reception.
Chris Katrenick was effective in the passing game for Jacobs going 5-7 for 126 yards and two touchdowns.
“Losing 37-0 in the first game was a big slap in the face for us, so we came out and worked hard the next few weeks,” Heiss said. “We’re not going to let that happen again.”
Game Ball
Brenden Heiss Jacobs
Heiss scored a touchdown on both offense and defense.
The Number - 3
The number of turnovers committed by Grayslake Central in the first six minutes of the game, Jacobs scored 14 points off them.
The Play
Jacobs’ Josh Walker took a carry from his own five-yard line all the way for a touchdown. The Golden Eagles led 35-0 at that point.
Jacobs 42, Grayslake Central 6
GLC 0 0 0 6 - 6 Jacobs 21 14 7 0 - 4
Scoring Summary
First quarter J- Barnes 1 run (Hichew kick), 4:50
J- Heiss 17 fumble return (Hichew kick), 3:55
J- Gierlak 24 pass from Katrenick (Hichew kick), 1:43
Second quarter
J- Walker 65 pass from Katrenick (Hichew kick), 11:02
J-Walker 95 run (Hichew kick), 5:53
Third quarter
J- Heiss 2 run (Hichew kick), 6:23
Fourth quarter
GLC- Shepherd 3 run (kick failed), 2:44
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING- Jacobs: Walker 12-164, Heiss 5-32, Katrenick 4-7, Barnes 3-3, Gierlak 1-9, Cooley 2-7, Anyu 5-26. Total: 32-248. Grayslake Central: Schwartz 16-50, Fitzgerald 3-12, Shepherd 12-minus 19, Comerford 1-minus 4. PASSING- Jacobs: Katrenick 5-7-126. Grayslake Central: 5-23-1-67. RECEIVING- Jacobs: Gierlak 3-63. Walker 2-63. Grayslake Central: Dunk 2-37, Comerford 1-2, Schwartz 1-17, Gilbert 1-9. TOTAL YARDS: Jacobs 374, Grayslake Central 106. Sophomore score: Jacobs 59, Grayslake Central 0.