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Art powers Grant over Round Lake

Rylan Art had more ways to get a handle in Grant's big homecoming win. The sophomore rushed for 3 touchdowns, threw for a fourth and set up the other one as the Bulldogs shutout visiting Round Lake 35-0 in a Northern Lake County Conference game on Friday night.

Grant quarterback Art carried the ball 21 times for 170 yards and threw for another 34 for the Bulldogs' first victory of the season.

It was so surreal and I've never seen so many fans in my life," Art said. "I was taking it in and enjoying everything. We've been practicing hard all week. My team knows that we're a good team and we believe that. Those three loses were just a fluke. We're going to bring it every game."

Art broke a scoreless tie in the second quarter on his first pass of the night, connecting with receiver Bryton Reynolds for a 32-yard touchdown with 9:06 left for an 8-0 Grant lead.

The Bulldogs recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff. Then, Yedidiah Israel had a 27-yard run to the Panthers' 6-yard line. Art followed it up with a 6-yard run into the end zone and a 14-0 lead with 7:38 left and they led 14-0 at the half.

Grant added three scores in the third quarter, Israel on an 8-yard run and Art from 3 and 13 yards for the 35-0 advantage.

"We expected our kids to rise for the challenge of winning the next play," Grant coach Chris Robinson said. "That's something that we lost for a little bit there. The next play is the most important one. We just have to win the next play. Defensively, our kids stepped up and did what they were supposed to do. They flew around and made the big plays."

The Bulldogs (1-3, 1-1) held the Panthers (1-3, 1-1) without a first down in the first half and to minus 20 yards of offense. Round Lake ended up with a total of 77 yards.

"Our defense played well at the beginning, we gave up a few plays on fourth down," Round Lake coach Scott Blecha said. "Our defense put us in a position early win the game. Our offense went backwards instead of forward. Run plays weren't working, pass plays weren't working, or trick plays weren't working. It's tough when the defense is on the field pretty much the entire game. It showed something about our character and it's something we have to work on."

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