Culhane, Grayslake Central come up big

There was plenty of big-play potential in the Woodstock air Friday night.

Fortunately for Grayslake Central, they fulfilled that potential and secured their second straight win in a 35-0 triumph over Woodstock North in a Fox Valley Conference Fox Division matchup.

All of the Rams touchdowns, both offensively and defensively, were scored on plays longer than 50 yards.

Grayslake Central's (2-0, 2-0 in Fox division) dynamic rushing attack was in high gear but took a little more time to get going then in last week's opener against Johnsburg. Woodstock North's defense held the Rams scoreless for nearly nine minutes until Vinnie Culhane (123 rushing yards) raced 58 yards to the end zone.

Culhane finished off the first-half scoring on a 79-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Ray Beckman.

"Ray passed me a good ball", said Culhane. "I caught the ball. Our other running back Jahard Nelson came up and provided the key block. I just cut it up and made the best of it after that and scored."

Joey Valdivia (game-high 178 rushing yards) provided the second-half offense for the Rams as he scored on 57- and 87-yard runs in a three-carry stretch.

"Our line did great, said Valdivia. "We had good blocking. I just cut it back up and there was an open hole from the cutback."

Credit is also due to the Grayslake Central defense, which kept Woodstock North (0-2, 0-2 in Fox Division) off of the scoreboard while allowing the Thunder less than 100 yards of total offense. Defensive lineman Chris Loeffl got his big play by returning a fumble 51 yards to close out the scoring.

Despite the spotless scoreboard, there was still room for improvement.

"We're not overly excited with how the way we played up front," said Rams coach Nick Goshe. "We feel like we missed some things. Woodstock North gave us some problems up under center. We need to look at a few things because Crystal Lake South is on the calendar next week and they pose some challenges."

However, Goshe doesn't mind the benefits of his big-play offense.

"Right now, we're big play. That's what we are. I'll take scores."