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North Chicago hangs on against Grant

North Chicago 27, Grant 17: In the postgame huddle, North Chicago coach Addonte Adams congratulated his players, but also reminded them that he wasn't happy with the way they practiced this week.

He called it a "crazy week."

"We had a lot of ups and downs in practice this week," North Chicago Dyshawn Gales said.

North Chicago had a few downs Thursday night at Grant. But the Warhawks had more ups, and those pushed them to a 27-17 Northern Lake County Conference victory.

North Chicago improves to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in league play. Grant drops to 0-6 and 0-4.

"The key today was getting the ball to my receivers in space and letting them make their moves," said Gales, who completed 12-of-18 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown. "I had a lot of confidence in them today."

Gales also ran in 2 touchdowns for North Chicago, which was up 14-7 at halftime. Gales hit Cordell Bailey for a 41-yard touchdown pass and Ishuan Walker ran in a 75-yard punt return for the Warhawks' first-half scores.

Grant scored its first touchdown in the second quarter on a nifty 64-yard flea-flicker pass from quarterback Matt McGraw (11-for-26, 201 yards, 2 touchdowns) to Jacob Lotz, who caught his second touchdown pass in as many games.

"We're definitely making some progress (offensively). We're making more plays," said Lotz, who caught 2 passes for 94 yards. "We're getting more yardage and gains down the field.

"I'm trying to just work on catching and running my routes better."

Grant cut North Chicago's lead to 14-10 when Andrew Ryczek nailed a 29-yard field goal with 5:41 left in the third quarter. But the Warhawks responded with back-to-back rushing touchdowns by Gales (18 yards and 23 yards). Gales finished with 112 rushing yards on 17 carries.

Grant scored its final touchdown on a 23-yard pass from McGraw to Klaus Kathrein in the endzone. Kathrein had 5 catches for 76 yards.

"We were just trying to come together as a team," Gales said. "We are trying to go for a conference championship and the playoffs."

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