Huge finale favors Grant

With seven ticks to play in Thursday's battle at Grant, it sure looked like a 16-game losing streak was about to end for Wauconda.

That's because brave Wauconda quarterback Kevin Malisheski had lobbed an improbable TD pass to Josh Anderson of 46 yards. Wauconda was up by 3 points.

And then the impossible happened. There was one second left in the game and home-standing Grant had just enough time for one play, with 60 yards to go.

"It was a basic wheel play,'' explained Grant quarterback Spencer Lhotka. "I knew I had to get rid of the ball."

Forty seconds earlier, Lhotka had hooked up with Jeremy Bredwood on a 62-yard scoring pass that had given Grant its first lead of the game.

Lightning struck again. Bredwood caught the ball in traffic and then, to the utter joy of the Grant fans, somehow raced into the end zone with the game-winner.

Grant's winning streak over Wauconda continued in shocking fashion, 32-29.

"I was too determined to score,'' Bredwood said.

Both teams played great down the stretch. Wauconda held double digit leads in this game but somehow fell behind on the first Lhotka-to-Bredwood connection.

Malisheski and the Bulldogs had just a half a minute to move the ball downfield. And it didn't look good as Wauconda faced a second-and-20 with 14 seconds to play. That's when Malisheski and Anderson beat Grant with a big TD pass.

Wauconda coach Dave Mills knows his team gets all it wants from Grant each time they meet.

"The last five games we've played them it's been a one-touchdown game,'' Mills said. "We were just one play short tonight. That's a great high school game, but someone had to win and someone had to lose."

This contest had a slow start. After one quarter, there was only a 7-yard TD from Wauconda's Alex Payne on the scoreboard. Rushing wasn't Wauconda's strength; the Bulldogs (3-3) rode the right arm of Malisheski. On touchdown passes to Parker Fink and Anderson, the Wauconda lead looked safe at 23-6 in the third quarter. The lead was still double digits heading to the final quarter.

The Grant comeback was aided by a pair of touchdown runs by John Bettis. His 19-yard gallop pulled his club within 23-20 early in the final quarter.

Despite the shocking loss, Mills felt his team played well.

"Kevin is fantastic quarterback,'' Mills said. "And we have one of the best groups of receivers in the area."