Grayslake Central owned the first 6 minutes. Cary-Grove owned the rest. The Trojans recovered quickly from a rough opening drive to roll past the ninth-seeded Rams 55-27 in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs Friday night.

Fortunes have turned around in a hurry and in a big way for the Grayslake Central football team. The Rams host Cary-Grove Friday night in a Class 6A second-round playoff game.

Grayslake Central’s juniors and seniors could have abandoned ship after witnessing a 1-8 season as freshmen and sophomores.They could have done it again after COVID-19 put in danger the following season. But instead they stayed the course, and now they were the life and blood of the Rams’ program that third-year coach Mike Maloney hopes just experienced a major breakthrough. Central overcame an early two-score deficit to post only its school’s third playoff win, defeating Belvidere North 27-22 Friday in the Class 6A playoffs.

When teams make it to the playoffs, they must be prepared for anything. For Friday’s night’s first round Class 6A playoff matchup between the No. 11-seeded Antioch Sequoits and No. 6 Lake Forest Scouts, they had to battle through something that can’t be replicated in a week’s worth of practice: Mother Nature. By the end of four quarters, it was Lake Forest that came out victorious, with a 27-6 win over the Sequoits.

In recent years, Antioch has enjoyed a run of high notability among northern Illinois football teams. Since 2016, the Sequoits have gone 40-9, making the playoffs all five years they were offered during that time span (Remember, the 2021 COVID-19-induced spring season had no playoffs). The Sequoits’ success in the Northern Lake County Conference also has been well-documented. Coming into this year ,Antioch had won the conference every year since the circuit started play in 2015.

With Grayslake Central facing a fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line and trailing to conference rival Lakes with just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Rams needed one of their playmakers to step up. Junior wide receiver Kaiden Miller rose to the occasion.

It was a disconcerting start to the season for the Antioch football team. Two losses in the first two games for the Sequoits, who certainly aren’t used to that. Only once in the previous five years had Antioch lost more than 2 games in an entire season. But there was a flip of the switch after that 0-2 start, and since then the Sequoits have gone 5-1 to put themselves in position to make their fifth consecutive playoff appearance.

It’s been awhile since the Antioch football team has had to fight for its playoff life. They are, in fact, alive and well after Friday’s 28-14 Northern Lake County Conference victory over visiting Grayslake Central.

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.

It was a long time coming, but Grayslake Central found a way to take bragging rights away from Grayslake North for the first time in a number of years. The Rams pulled away in the second half and held off the visiting Knights 28-25 in the Northern Lake County Conference opener on Friday night in Grayslake.