CRYSTAL LAKE – It was a game Crystal Lake Central was expected to win, and the Tigers’ defense made sure to avoid a letdown.
A dominant first half led to a 56-7 win by the Tigers (7-2, 4-2 FVC Fox) over Grayslake Central (0-9, 0-7) on Friday night. Their first-string defense held the Rams scoreless en route to a 49-0 halftime lead before taking a seat for the rest of the game.
“I think we did our assignments, and we just got the job done,” Crystal Lake Central defensive end Alec Baron said. “We just needed a shutout, and that’s exactly what we got.”
One of the goals for the Tigers was simply to protect the ball on offense while forcing turnovers on defense. In the first half, they did that.
Junior safety Aaron Sances got it started with an interception that set up Crystal Lake Central’s third touchdown of the first quarter. Shortly after, Baron got after Grayslake Central QB Luke Shepherd and forced a fumble that tackle Nathan Wayne picked up.
Baron ran amok in the first half, with one of his most important plays coming on a big tackle on running back Michael Andrews that stalled Grayslake Central’s best drive of the half.
It wasn’t flashy. At times, it was a little bit hard to watch. By the end, it was a dominating win that sends the Tigers into the playoffs on a four-game winning streak.
“The D-line and the whole defense played well tonight,” head coach Matt Fralick said. “We executed the offense well, and the defense played well. We did what we needed to do tonight.”
Game ball: Alec Baron, CLC DE, Sr.
Baron was all over the place for the Crystal Lake Central defensive line. He had a forced fumble, a tackle for loss and made a big impact for the Tigers despite playing just one half.
Key stat: 13:32.
That's how long it took the Tigers to build a 42-0 lead and ensure a running clock for the rest of the game.
Big play: Midway through the first quarter, junior safety Aaron Sances anticipated Grayslake Central QB Luke Shepherd's pass over the middle and picked it off. CL Central would score on the next play.
Crystal Lake Central 56, Grayslake Central 7
Crystal Lake Central 35 14 7 0 – 56
Grayslake Central 0 0 7 0 – 7
First quarter
CLC–Williams 31 run (Chen kick), 7:18.
CLC–Williams 44 run (Chen kick), 6:01.
CLC–Ortner 30 pass from DeCoste (Chen kick), 4:26.
CLC–May 1 run (Chen kick), 2:59.
CLC–DeCoste 1 run (Chen kick), 1:34.
Second quarter
CLC–Ortner 12 pass from DeCoste (Chen kick), 10:28.
CLC–Ortner 6 pass from DeCoste (Chen kick), 3:55.
Third quarter
GLC–Dunk 25 pass from Shepherd (Dunk kick), 8:24.
CLC–May 16 run (Chen kick), 7:31.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–CLC: Williams 8-107, May 9-58, Oetjens 6-24, DeCoste 4-3. Totals: 27-192. GLC: Andrews 15-51, Schwartz 6-22, Ali 3-18, Shepherd 5-minus 11. Totals: 29-80.
PASSING–CLC: DeCoste 10-12-0-184, Oetjens 1-3-0-16. Totals: 11-15-0-200. GLC: Shepherd 5-16-1-86.
RECEIVING–CLC: Ortner 5-101, Pawlicki 2-34, Wagner 1-29, Williams 1-19, Smith 1-16, MacAlpine 1-1. GLC: Ali 1-29, Dunk 1-25, Schwartz 1-21, Andrews 2-11.
TOTAL TEAM YARDS–CLC 392, GLC 166.