High school football: Woodstock North falls short of playoffs with loss to Grayslake North

GRAYSLAKE – Trailing by a touchdown at halftime, Woodstock North could see its playoff hopes fading away once again. The Thunder offense came out to start the second half, responded with their best drive of the season and it still wasn’t enough.

Woodstock North used nearly the entire third quarter to go 70 yards for a tying score. Unfortunately for the Thunder, they couldn’t get the defensive stop they needed as the Grayslake North rushing attack, which gave the visitors fits all night, responded with a score of its own to retake the lead for good.

The Knights went on to beat the Thunder, 35-21, Friday night in a Fox Valley Conference Fox Division game at Grayslake North.

Grayslake North's Dami Oladunmoye finished with 242 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries. Matthew Aikin had 88 rushing yards and two scores for the playoff-bound Knights (6-3, 5-1 FVC Fox).

"It's definitely not easy, but it's a team effort, we lose and we win as a team," senior fullback Randall Kline said. "I credit all the players, they played hard, they didn't give up, they didn't want to lose. Things just didn't fall our way."

The Thunder (4-5, 2-4 FVC Fox) finish one win shy of playoff eligibility for the second consecutive season.

"Second year in a row, it's heartbreaking," senior Travis Busch said.

The Thunder led 13-7 after one quarter but found themselves down, 21-13, at halftime.

Woodstock North received the second-half kickoff and started at their own 30.

From there, they pounded away at the Knights with their power-option offense, especially Kline the fullback. The Thunder ran 20 plays and went 70 yards in 11:21, converting four fourth downs along the way. Kline, who carried 12 times on the drive, capped it with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Busch ran in the 2-point attempt to tie the score, 21-21 with 39 seconds left in the third quarter.

"We needed it badly. We weren't going to settle for not scoring on that drive," Kline said. "But it's a team effort, our team wanted to do it and we got it."

The Knights, however, answered right back, going 72 yards in eight plays to retake the lead 28-21. Next, the hosts forced a turnover on downs from the Thunder and Oladunmoye's 6-yard score with 2:02 left made it a two-score margin.

Busch finished with 105 yards and a touchdown while Kline gained 70 total yards. Jacob Schmitt had the visitors' other score on a 20-yard run.

Unsung hero: Travis Busch, Woodstock North, Sr. RB/DB

Busch led the Thunder with 105 yards rushing on 10 carries. He broke a 63-yard score on his first touch of the game but was bottled up somewhat after halftime, picking up just 17 yards in the second half. He was also frequently in on plays defensively.

The number: 242 yards rushing for Grayslake North's Dami Oladunmoye. Woodstock North struggled all night to slow down the junior.

And another thing... Woodstock North senior two-way player Jacob Schmitt had 18 yards and a touchdown on two carries in the first half before sustaining an injury on defense and leaving the game.

Grayslake North 35, Woodstock North 21

Grayslake North 7 - 14 - 0 - 14 - 35

Woodstock North 13 - 0 - 8 - 0 - 21

How they scored

First quarter

GN- Oladunmoye 66 run (Rhodes kick), 11:13.

WN- Busch 63 run (Sharik kick), 9:47.

WN- Schmitt 20 run (Sharik kick blocked), 3:38.

Second quarter

GN- Aikin 40 run (Rhodes kick), 3:55

GN- Oladunmoye 9 run (Rhodes kick), 1:14.

Third quarter

WN- Kline 1 run (Busch run successful), 0:39.

Fourth quarter

GN- Aikin 17 run (Rhodes kick), 9:06.

GN- Oladunmoye 6 run (Rhodes kick), 2:02.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING- Grayslake North: Oladunmoye 26-242, Aikin 7-88, Hochstein 3-14, Gawenda 3-8, Wright 5-1, Geary 1-0. Totals: 45-353. Woodstock North: Busch 10-105, Kline 27-70, Dycus 3-41, Zinnen 6-28, Schmitt 2-18. Totals: 48-262.

PASSING- Grayslake North: Wright 0-1-0-0. Woodstock North: Zinnen 1-4-1-7.

RECEIVING- Grayslake North: none. Woodstock North: Coalson 1-7.

TOTAL TEAM YARDS: Grayslake North 353, Woodstock North 269.

Sophomore score: Grayslake North 15, Woodstock North 0.