Warren's full arsenal on display

Even with one of the best runners in Lake County standing in the backfield, it's always good to mix things up.

At least, that's what Warren felt heading into Friday's North Suburban crossover at Grant. The Blue Devils threw the ball on their first seven plays from scrimmage.

Later on, they went back to running back Darrius Crump and he also had a big night as Warren rolled to a 44-0 victory.

"Darrius has been playing great all year, the O-line has been blocking tremendous all year," said Warren receiver Caleb Reams. "Some games, I guess you have to throw the ball. It worked out this game."

Reams, who has committed to Illinois, caught the first two passes from quarterback Jay Nickell for gains of 26 and 31 yards, resulting in the game's first touchdown. On the next drive, Reams grabbed a 14-yard reception and Zach Schultz added a 20-yard gain, setting up a 32-yard field goal by sophomore Brandon Hergenreder.

"I love throwing the ball, especially when you have two running backs like Darrius and VaShaun (Wright), teams come in expecting us to run the ball," Nickell said. "So when you come out and throw like that, it's easy for us to go down and score. Then you can give it to the running backs and they're still going to do a tremendous job."

The running part held up just fine. Crump had his usual big night, running for 160 yards on just 7 carries, including a pair of 37-yard touchdowns. Wright added TD runs of 18 and 1 yards. Reams added a second touchdown catch in the second quarter.

Nickell finished the night 6-for-10 through the air for 126 yards, while Reams had 4 catches for 85 yards.

"Yeah, we wanted to come out and throw the ball a little bit," Warren coach Bryan McNulty said. "We've got some pretty good weapons at the wideout spot, so wanted to do that a little bit. We knew that they were going to commit nine to the box and stop the run. So we just wanted to throw, keep them off balance a little bit and we did."

The Blue Devils improved to 5-2 and should be in good shape for a playoff spot. They have a big game coming up next week at home against Lake Zurich, but McNulty didn't necessarily intend for Friday's air show to serve as a warning to future opponents.

"I think it sends a message to our kids that we can do it," he said. "We worry about one opponent at a time. Right now, we're just trying to come out more efficient in the throw game for us and I thought we were."

Grant (2-5) has struggled on defense all season under first-year coach Vito Andriola. On offense, the Bulldogs were led by Tim Hollins with 44 yards on 12 carries.

With the score 44-0 at halftime, the second half featured a running clock. Both teams had long drives after halftime that stalled inside the opponents' 10-yard line and that was enough to run out the time.