The only blemish on Bryce Gray’s season-opening performance came late in the second quarter when the veteran quarterback scrambled and tossed a desperate pass into the darkness.
No receiver in sight. Almost immediately hit with a penalty for intentional grounding.
Prior to that, the Homewood-Flossmoor senior had hit his first five passes against Downers Grove South, two of which went for touchdowns. The 15-yard penalty put the Vikings in a second-and-25 situation, where on the next play Gray calmly hit receiver Kendric Pryor with a perfect 35-yard scoring strike as top-ranked Homewood Flossmoor pounded the host Mustangs 56-15 in Downers Grove.
“It ended up being good for me,” Gray said with a laugh. “I just trust my guys. We’re a veteran team. We’ve been through it all. From losing state last year, we know when it gets tough out there you don’t panic. You just move on.”
Gray hardly looked panicked throughout the night, finishing 8-for-10 for 338 yards and four TDs. His offense put up staggering numbers from the opening whistle, scoring five TDs on its first 10 plays.
If the Vikings were looking past their opening night opponent to next week’s matchup against Stevenson, the team that beat them by six points and three yards in the 8A title game last year, it didn’t show.
“It doesn’t make any difference who we play, we’re going to play our game,” Gray said. “If we play our game and execute the way we should, it should be like this all the time.”
H-F scored on its opening possession, a 31-yard run up the middle from Dante Harley-Hampton (4 carries, 48 yards, TD), then needed just six plays to add four more scores, including TD passes of 68 and 28 yards from Gray. Downers sacked Gray hard and forced a fumble that eventually resulted in Jonathon Caudill-Dotson 16-yard TD run to close the gap to 35-9.
But Gray added the 35-yarder to Pryor (4 catches, 143 yards, 2 TD) before the half and then drilled a pretty no-look screen to Devonte Harley-Hampton (two catches, 137 yards, TD) that resulted in a 66-yard TD early in the second half to end to his evening with a 49-9 edge.
“Doesn’t matter how many kids you’ve got back or how much experience you have, the first game, you never know,” H-F coach Craig Buzea said. “I think the guys answered the bell. I’m really proud of them. Overall, any time you can get the first game out of the way like that and put 50 points up against a quality program, you’ve got to be happy with that.”
Both teams added late touchdowns against backups to account for the final score.
“We knew they were loaded on offense. We’re not going to make excuses. We have a lot of juniors and kids who haven’t played varsity football before. And that’s a tough way to get your first lesson,” Downers coach Mark Molinari said. “The speed of the game was a lot for us and our defense.”
More Top Picks Best Canes For Seniors
Phil English is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.