Carollo, Lake Forest in fine form at Grant
Lake Forest's recent history of strong quarterback play is showing now signs of slowing down.
Led by junior QB Daniel Carollo, the Scouts breezed to touchdowns on every full possession by the first-string offense and rolled to a 57-25 win at Grant on Friday in Fox Lake.
Even though Lake Forest has new starters at most of the skill positions, the no-huddle spread offense was humming. Carollo was nearly perfect, completing 8 of 10 passes for 183 yards. He was accurate throwing downfield, to the sideline and on the run.
But it wasn't all passing. Once the Scouts (2-0) spread out the defense, their two top running backs averaged nearly 15 yards per carry. Senior Wes Janeck sprinted for an 80-yard touchdown on the Scouts' second possession and finished with 130 yards on 9 carries. Junior Quinn Julian added 105 yards on 7 carries.
"We've got to get better," first-year Grant coach Vito Andriola said. "We're trying to change the program here. The defensive part as unacceptable. On defense, sometimes the weight room shows a lot more and we're not strong. That's a fact. We only had them for two months in the weight room with me, so hopefully that will get better."
Defensively, the Bulldogs' defense is off to a rough start. It gave up 42 points in a season-opening loss to Crystal Lake Central last week. The offense showed some promise, though.
Senior Tim Hollins ran for 176 yards on 25 carries. Some of those gains were against the second-team defense, but not all of them. Senior John Bettis added 68 yards on 11 rushing attempts.
Grant got a couple of explosive plays from 6-foot-3 junior Kemar Miller. He returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and later turned a quick slant pass from quarterback Spencer Lhotka into a 52-yard TD reception. Miller's older brother Keion was a multisport athlete at the school a few years ago.
"The kids didn't quit. The backs are running harder," Andriola said. "Kemar's a really good player, a special player. They're starting to buy into some of the stuff we're doing. That's the hardest part - it's like I've been everywhere else - we do stuff so different and it's really hard."
Grant finished 3-6 last season, but before that, made the playoffs seven times in eight years under Kurt Rous, who resigned to spend more time with his family.
The Bulldogs almost did an effective job of keeping Lake Forest's high-powered offense off the field. By recovering a fumble on a punt return, the Bulldogs ran 12 plays on their opening drive and recorded a first down on the Scouts 20-yard line, but could move no further.
Grant also drove into Lake Forest territory on its next two possessions, but punted into the end zone and lost a fumble. The Scouts went 67 yards in six plays on their opening drive, then 80 yards in one play and 63 yards in five plays to open a 21-0 lead.
After Miller's kickoff return made it 21-7, Carollo hit Brian Doherty for 38 yards, tipping off another quick scoring drive to make it 28-7 at halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Carollo scrambled for 28 yards and Julian broke loose for 36 to set up another touchdown. Carollo then found Sage Lawrence for a 58-yard pass to the one-yard line, and it was soon 42-7.
Lake Forest has run a powerful spread offense going back to when Tommy Reese started at quarterback. He finished his college career at Notre Dame last season.
After the game, the Scouts sprinted off the field like their bus was rolling away, so no players or coaches were available to comment.