Grayslake North’s air show grounds Hampshire
The barechested, green-torsoed creatures sitting in the homeside bleachers were actually human teenagers.
There was no confirmation about the home football team’s quarterback, who might have been an alien.
Grayslake North’s “Out of This World” homecoming theme proved prophetic Friday night. With the world waiting for a 6-ton NASA satellite to crash from the sky, A.J. Fish put on his own air show. The shining Knight threw for school records of 417 yards and 5 touchdowns on 23-of-31 passing, and also rushed for 85 yards and 2 scores, leading Grayslake North to a 49-22 win over Fox Valley Conference-newcomer Hampshire.
“Best homecoming game,” Fish said. “It was awesome.”
The stars were aligned right, as an 8½-by-11-inch color action photo of Fish decorated the flashy roster sheet handed out to fans.
“He’s everything that was advertised,” Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said. “He’s a good player. He makes it go for them. He’s not alone. They got a lot of good, talented athletes on their team.”
Grayslake North — which also got a school-record 12 receptions for 270 yards and 3 TDs from Josh Cokefair and Jake Geary’s school-record fifth interception of his career — improved to 3-2 and 2-0 in the FVC Fox Division, while Hampshire fell to 0-5, 0-2.
“We got to fix some things defensively, and normally we’re talking about fixing things offensively,” Knights coach Steve Wood said. “This year, we’re just not. It’s a little bit different. It’s pretty exciting watching us on offense.”
Grayslake North got its second 49-point performance of the season going early, using its no-huddle, spread option to score just 2:05 into the game. Fish’s shake-and-bake scamper from 34 yards out capped a 6-play drive, and the 6-foot-3 junior was just getting started.
After Hampshire took an 8-7 lead on the first play of the second quarter on Chase Lundry’s 1-yard touchdown run and the ensuing conversion toss from Kyle Anderson to Tyler Crater, Fish found Cokefair over the middle. Cokefair eluded tacklers and sped down the sideline for a 58-yard scoring play.
Fish found Drake Davis in the corner of the end zone on Grayslake North’s next possession, then connected with Cokefair on a 14-yard TD pass that had the hosts up 28-8 with 2:48 left before halftime.
“We’ve just been working hard together throughout practice, just getting our routes down, getting our timing down,” said Cokefair, who has 5 touchdown grabs in the Knights’ last two games. “We’re just doing what we got to do to have games like these.”
Fish found Cokefair on a 62-yard bomb down the sideline early in the third quarter to make it 35-14. Fish scored from 4 yards out late in the third.
Fish, who threw a 39-yard TD pass to a wide-open Matt Schlagetter in the fourth, was under little pressure all night. Offensive linemen Nick Stanfel, Charlie O’Donnell, Kasen Christiansen, Aaron Hoover, Erik York and Geoff Gardner gave him plenty of pocket protection.
Fish and Cokefair were in sync all game long.
“It’s all Josh,” Fish said. “He’s making plays. And you got to give it up to the offensive line. They’re giving me so much time to throw the ball. They’re working so hard in practice and it totally shows.”
Lundry had a productive night for Hampshire, rushing 26 times for 86 yards and 2 TDs, intercepting Fish and blocking a field-goal attempt.
Whip-Purs QB Anderson threw for 164 yards and a 13-yard scoring strike to Brendan Waterworth in the final minute of the game.
“We moved it offensively,” Cavanaugh said. “As the game went on, I thought (Grayslake North) controlled the line of scrimmage, though.”