A real field day for Wauconda
No scoreboard lights, but how about them Wauconda whites?
In years past, the kind of downpour that hit the Wauconda area Friday afternoon would have made for a muddy football field for the local team.
It's a different story now. The football team made its debut on its new artificial turf Friday night and celebrated with a 53-0 win over Chicago Roosevelt, as junior quarterback Kevin Malisheski threw for 3 scores and ran for another. Imasa Bowman opened the scoring by returning a punt for a touchdown, and when Josh Anderson went the distance on the second-half kickoff, a running clock commenced.
Wauconda (2-0) sported white pants to complement its purple jerseys. The Bulldogs used to wear gold pants for home games.
"We wouldn't be wearing these pants (if Wauconda still had a grass field)," Anderson said. "We're only allowed to wear these on the turf, so we don't get them muddy."
Wauconda's refurbished stadium also includes a new scoreboard, which was inoperable for the football game due to a lack of power.
"We actually lost power about the last half-hour of school today," Wauconda coach Dave Mills said. "We lost power throughout the whole grid. The rain was coming down so hard that we actually kept our kids in the building for 20 minutes after dismissal, just for the weather to clear.
"Everybody was freaking out," Mills added. "Thirty minutes later, you came out here and the field's like this (no standing water). You're looking at it and you're like, 'This is why you have this (turf).' "
Anderson was hanging out inside the school with some of his teammates.
"We were all ready to go home, get our stuff and come back by 4:30 (p.m.)," Anderson said. "We were just waiting to leave. It was aggravating because we couldn't."
Wauconda's enthusiasm was obvious once it hit the field. Tyler Stankiewicz's tackle for loss on the game's opening series forced a punt, which Bowman caught and returned 63 yards into the end zone.
"It was great," Bowman said of his first varsity touchdown and - for historical purposes - the first on the new turf. "We practice it a lot. Stevie (Ciolek) made a great block and so did Connor Mitchell."
Malisheski capped Wauconda's first possession with a 24-yard TD run, and the Bulldogs led 13-0 after one quarter. Bowman returned Roosevelt's next punt 23 yards to the opponent's 27, setting up Wauconda's third score. His Week-1 punt return against Woodstock North helped set up the game-winning score.
"I love returning kicks for Wauconda," Bowman said. "It's fun."
Watching Bowman succeed is a thrill for his head coach.
"It couldn't happen to a nicer kid, to a better kid," Mills said. "Imasa's one of those kids who puts a lot of work into things. Things have not always been easy for him. It's nice to see him, as a senior, getting some rewards for his persistence."
Wauconda scored four times in the second quarter to go into halftime up 39-0. Malisheski (8-of-9 passing, 67 yards) hit Jake Grobelny with a 16-yard touchdown pass. Joey Schaer's juggling catch in the right corner of the end zone hiked the lead to 26-0.
Then five plays after Grobelny recovered a fumbled kickoff, the junior caught a 3-yard TD pass from Malisheski for his second score of the game. Alex Payne's 2-yard touchdown run closed the first-half scoring.
Anderson's kickoff return for touchdown covered 98 yards. Collin Tyrrell scored from 4 yards out late in the third quarter to finish the scoring.
A physical contest saw several Roosevelt players limp off the field, but Rough Riders coach Tom Boettjer assured his team was fine.
"We're OK," said Boettjer, who had fewer than 30 players make the trip from Chicago. "That's all I wanted to come out of this game. No one's going to be missing Taft next week."
Wauconda will next start focusing on its Week-3 North Suburban Conference crossover, against 2-0 Lake Forest.
"They're good," Boettjer said of Wauconda. "Class organization."