Lake County football wrapup: Wauconda throttles Proviso West; Grayslake Central-Hubbard barnburner

A little here, a little there ... actually it was a little bit of everything on Friday night for the Wauconda football team.

The Bulldogs got scoring from its defense, from its special teams and of course from its offense and it all added up to a thorough victory, 69-0 over Proviso West in a nonconference season opener.

"When you get scoring from everywhere, you're performing pretty well," Wauconda coach Dave Mills said. "We knew we would be talented this year, but you always have questions going into a season. I liked how the kids played so well together. They enjoyed each other's successes and they didn't let any mistakes freak them out.

"I think it's a little of a carry-over from last year. We have about half of our kids who were starters last year back this year. We are a talented team with really good focus."

Colin Husko got the party started early, scoring on a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown 10 seconds into the game. He then scored Wauconda's next touchdown, a 4-yard run. He scored his third and final touchdown later in the first half on a 27-yard run.

Quarterback Vince Bennett had a part in 4 touchdowns: a 10-yard run and 3 touchdown passes. Two of Bennett's touchdown passes went to Clayton Glsby (25 yards, 30 yards) and one went to Chase Groelle (6 yards).

In the second half, the Wauconda defense, which limited Proviso West to a total of 28 yards of offense, found the end zone, too.

Linebacker Dennis Kloss picked up a fumble and ran 55 yards for a touchdown, then Brock Pfeiffer had a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown. Reserve Connor Vanselow scored Wauconda's final touchdown of the game.

Scoring barrage: It took some time to complete the Grayslake Central-Hubbard game on Friday night.

Between the two teams, 104 points were scored as the host Rams came out on the winning side, 66-38.

"The game was never in doubt," Grayslake Central coach Mike Maloney said. "It was a really good game for our offense. Our quarterback (Darryl Overstreet) and our offensive line, where we start five seniors, were in control and were running the show."

Overstreet passed for a touchdown en route to 157 passing yards, and also rushed for a touchdown.

Kaiden Miller had a total of 3 touchdowns, 2 rushing and a 78-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

By halftime, Grayslake Central was up 52-26.

"Our offense was explosive," Maloney said. "It was a complete offensive performance where we shared and distributed the ball well. Our offensive line was the story of the night because they just created movement and everything they did was very physical.

Making strides: After a winless campaign last spring, Lakes is looking for small signs of improvement this fall.

Head coach Jordan Eder believes he saw plenty of that in spite of Friday's 31-9 loss to Sterling.

"We got off to a great start, and were down just 10-9 at halftime," Eder said. "We were able to move the ball and answer their scores. They are a big, physical team and always one of the top seeds in 5A or 6A. When I scheduled them, I wanted to take a chance and see where we stood and I'm happy we got out there and competed and we had a chance to win. That was huge, especially after last spring."

Lakes had a chance to close the margin to a one-score game late in the fourth quarter but fumbled on the Sterling 2-yard line.

Quarterback Max Bausch scored the Eagles' only touchdown on a 5-yard run.