Julian, Lake Forest jolt Grant
For Quinn Julian, déjà vu was a good thing.
The Lake Forest tailback added a second-consecutive 4-touchdown performance, keying a 40-0 halftime edge as the Lake Division Scouts rolled over Prairie Division's Grant Bulldogs 40-6 in North Suburban crossover action Friday at Varsity Field.
"There were huge holes the entire game," said Julian, who picked up 151 yards on 11 first half carries. "I never had a problem and didn't have negative yardage the entire night. There were always options and holes for me to go through."
John Ryan added a 10-yard blocked punt return for a score, while signal-caller Danny Carollo struck Cole Johnston with a 17-yard scoring strike in a first half when everything seemingly went right for the home team.
"It was a game of momentum early and we were fortunate because we were able to keep going with it," said Lake Forest coach Chuck Spagnoli, whose team improves to 4-2 overall on the season.
Most impressive was the Scouts' effort, defensively, in holding Grant (1-5) to 69 total yards of offense and first downs that occurred in the game's final minutes against running clock.
Kenyon Jones and Riley Whitney, who each eclipsed the 100-yard mark one week prior, were held to 45 and 34 yards respectively for the Bulldogs.
"They ran some stuff early that we haven't seen before actually," said Spagnoli. "Their offense is an unusual offense. You always worry when you play a team like this that it will be hard to get adjusted to what they do. We were fortunate. We got a couple three-and-outs and the game kind of got away from them with the score."
The lone bright spot for the visitors was the first play of the second half, an 85-yard return to paydirt from Kemar Miller. After forcing a fumble on the defensive end, the Bulldogs appeared to have new life, but struggle set in and Lake Forest milked the majority of the second-half clock over a 16-play drive.
The Scouts opened play with an 83-yard drive capped by an 8-yard dart from Julian, who added scoring runs of 16 and 54 after the next two Grant three-and-outs.
Grant's first second quarter possession came to abrupt halt when Nick Kouvelis' hit a wall of Scouts and was scooped up at the 10 by Ryan for an easy score.
On the following kick, a fumble on the return was recovered by the home team and Carollo (7 of 12, 89 yards) took command with an on the money toss to Johnston. Julian would capped the half with a 4-yard plunge and there was no looking back.
"What happened tonight is what you hope happens offensively, to be honest," added Spagnoli. "There were opportunities to be had and our kids took advantage. The main thing is our kids played hard - maybe as together has we have all year."
Lake Forest caps its home slate with defending state champ Stevenson in NSC Lake action next Friday, while Grant visits NSC Prairie foe Wauconda.