Running the option as though he invented it, quarterback Brian Geraghty rattled off a pair of long touchdowns on fourth-and-two as Lake Forest buried visiting Grayslake under a second-half avalanche en route to a 26-7 victory Wednesday in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs.
Grayslake (6-4), which lost 41-0 to Lake Forest in the playoffs a year ago, had opened a 6-0 lead when Mark Sneyd (14 carries, 123 yards) ripped off an 85-yard touchdown dash in the first quarter before Geraghty and the Scouts went to work.
Geraghty ripped off his two scoring jaunts, the first a 48-yarder shortly before the half to pull Lake Forest to within 7-6 and the second a 54-yarder in third quarter that gave the Scouts a 14-7 lead they never relinquished.
”I guess it depends on what you feel you can do,” said Lake Forest coach Tom Myers on why Lake Forest gambled on the two fourth-and-two situations. ”The team wanted to go for it (first down) both times, and I felt we needed something to pump us up.”
Jeff Lewis scored on a 5-yard run with an interception before the Scouts closed out their scoring on Geraghty`s 19-yard touchdown pass to James Mulligan in the fourth quarter.
Leo 21, Lindblom 0-Corey Rogers had 18 carries for 152 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 19 Leo (9-1), which scored on its first two possessions of the game.
”We wanted to be very sound and eliminate mistakes we made during the season,” said Leo coach Bob Foster. ”We were happy with our performance for the most part.”
Oak Forest 34, Harper 0-Bill Ellinghaus had touchdown runs of 21 and 36 yards as Oak Forest (9-1) rolled to a 28-0 halftime lead and coasted past visiting Public League Southwest Section champion Harper (6-5). Jason Richardson scored on a 9-yard run, Jason Woerheide broke off a 67-yard dash for another and Brian Kristan topped off the ground slaughter with a 13-yard touchdown scamper.
Woodstock 14, North Chicago 12-In the words of Woodstock coach Bob Bradshaw, ”Extra points were huge.” His team made its PATs on kicks by Steve Beard and they were enough to give Woodstock (7-3) the victory.
John Rizzo scored the first Woodstock TD on a 3-yard run in the first quarter. North Chicago (8-2) answered with a 6-yard scoring pass from Johnny Johnson (10 of 22, 131 yards) to Michael Herrod, but the kick failed.
Woodstock took the lead in the second quarter on a 6-yard run by Kurt Bentsen and Beard`s kick. Johnson hit Herrod again for a 16-yard score, but his pass failed on the two-point try.
An interception by Tim Zimmerman in the fourth quarter killed North Chicago`s final drive and allowed Woodstock to run out the clock.
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