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Improved Elk Grove falls short at Niles West

Trailing by 19 points to Niles West in the second quarter Friday, Elk Grove could have thrown in the towel.

Instead, the Grenadiers threw everything in their offensive arsenal at the Wolves.

Elk Grove came all the way back and at one point took the lead, but fell victim to a couple of late Niles West scores.

The Wolves defeated the Grens 48-34 in a nonconference game in Skokie.

Elk Grove piled up 453 yards on offense in the contest, but the Grens' defense had trouble all night with the home team's quarterback, Johnny Pabst. He finished with a line of 20-26-265 through the air, and rushed for 232 more yards as the Wolves rolled up 514 yards from scrimmage.

"You could tell from some of our faces that we were a little upset," said Elk Grove quarterback Tyler Selvig of the early deficit, "but it's not like we haven't been in that situation before. We've been down in every game we've played this year.

"We came back and gave it everything we had, and I think Niles West was shocked, to be honest. We just fell a little bit short."

Trailing 19-0 in the second quarter, Elk Grove scored three times to take the lead.

First, Genio Hyppolite rushed for a TD from 22 yards away, then Marquis Friend made a juggling, circus catch for a 53-yard touchdown.

A 5-yard run by Connor Cloherty completed the rally.

"We had a rough first quarter," said Grens offensive lineman Mike Clausen, "but we knew there were three more quarters to go. We came back like we're supposed to do."

The game was knotted at 27-27 in the third quarter after Hyppolite pounded one into the end zone again, this time from 11 yards out.

But the Wolves scored two more times to put the game away, the final touchdown coming on spirit-crushing 10-play, 92-yard drive after the Grens had pinned NilesWest at its own 8-yard line.

A 3-yard run by Cloherty accounted for the final score.

Selvig finished with 169 yards in the passing game, while Hyppolite rushed 18 times for 164 yards and 2 touchdowns.

"I'm proud of the way the guys played tonight," said Elk Grove coach John Sigmund. "We'll have some ups and downs, and sometimes it's one step forward and two steps back. But we're a young team and we're going to get better every week."

Cloherty had 127 yards on the ground, including 2 scores.

"It was great to have him back in the lineup," said Sigmund of Cloherty, who was injured in the Grens' first game this year. "He's the heart and soul of our team."

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