They call him “Smiley.”
And after Waukegan routed winless Maine East 44-0 on Friday night, the biggest smile in the Bulldogs’ postgame powwow belonged, appropriately enough, to Gaberial “Smiley” Robinson.
There are a lot of ways to produce points in a football game, and Robinson touched on many of them in the nonconference victory for Waukegan (2-1).
As a running back, he scored touchdowns on runs of 1 and 17 yards in the first quarter. And after each TD, he ran in the two-point conversion from the swinging-gate formation for a 16-0 lead.
As a defensive back on the last play of the first half, he intercepted a pass and returned it 97 yards for a TD to make it 30-0.
In the second half, after a 44-yard scoring run by quarterback Malik Brown, Robinson threw a two-point conversion pass from the swinging gate to make it 38-0.
The 5-foot-10, 163-pounder, who is a combination of speed and power, was understandably grinning ear to ear after the running-clock win.
“I just saw openings in their defense, our line did a really good job and we capitalized,” Robinson said.
On his half-ending pick-six, he said he “just read the quarterback’s eyes and broke on the ball as quick as I could. Next thing you know, I was in the end zone for six.”
Robinson ran the ball just four times from scrimmage, gaining 40 yards. Jalen Bey-McKie ran seven times for 100 yards, and also returned an interception 21 yards for a TD.
Brown had 10 runs for 84 yards and was 4-for-9 passing for 31 yards and a 7-yard scoring pass to Josue Torres.
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“Overall, a good performance, but too many penalties,” Waukegan coach Juan Anillo said of the Bulldogs, who were flagged 15 times for 150 yards. “We’ve got a lot of work yet to do. We’ve got to fix some holes, but we worked really really hard this week and tried to focus on the things that we do, and the players came through.
Anillo saw improved quarterback play from Brown. Waukegan runs the option and relies on execution to produce points.
“Our quarterback was doing a better job of reading the option,” Anillo said. “We were getting the ball pitched outside and taking advantage of what they were giving us.”
Joliet Catholic 41, Carmel 21: Michael Johnson rushed 23 times for 173 yards and three touchdowns for Joliet Catholic (3-0), and Cade Earl threw for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Carmel (0-3) trailed 21-0 at halftime.
Vernon Hills 21, Grant 18: Senior quarterback Connor McNamara threw a 23-yard TD pass to Jonathan McGuire with 3:15 remaining to erase an 18-14 deficit as the Cougars (3-0) beat the Bulldogs (0-3) in the North Suburban Prairie opener.
McNamara was 15-for-33 passing for 219 yards.
Grant took an 18-14 lead on an 6-yard TD pass from Hunter Sadoski (11-for-20, 109 yards) to Kemar Miller early in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Kenyon Jones carried 34 times for 120 yards for Grant.
Hampshire 40, Grayslake Central 17: The Rams’ program has now lost 13 games in a row, including three this year.
Grayslake got TDs from Noah Cromerford (8-yard pass from Luke Shepherd) and Shepherd (1-yard run), while Danny Perez added a 27-yard field goal.
Hampshire is 2-1.
Cary-Grove 68, Grayslake North 12: This was a battle of unbeatens, but Cary-Grove is a state-title contender in Class 7A while Grayslake North plays at the 6A level, and the difference was very evident as the Trojans rushed for 450 yards.
The Knights’ TDs came on a 32-yard run by Joseph Geary and a 50-yard pass from Hunter Ambre to Matt Aiken.
Stevenson 38, Lake Zurich 35: Jack Sorenson threw for 278 yards and four TDs for Stevenson (2-1). The Patriots seemed to have the game in hand after Sorenson’s 44-yard TD pass to Michael Marchese made it 38-21 with 7:49 left.
But Lake Zurich scored two TDs in 28 seconds, sandwiched around a successful onside kick, to make it 38-35 with 1:40 to go. Joey Lindstrom threw a pair of 9-yard scoring passes to Alex Miller and Jake Stevens to get the Bears back into the game.
The Bears tried another onside kick after the second TD, but Stevenson recovered and ran out the clock.
Mundelein 55, North Chicago 6: Mustang quarterback Colton Fisher was 9-for-14 for 152 yards and three TD passes, and also rushed for 145 yards on 14 carries for Mundelein (3-0). Fisher has 736 yards rushing and eight TDs to go along with 452 yards passing and seven scores in three games.
Warren 34, Lake Forest 28: Darrius Crump rushed 32 times for 139 yards and two touchdowns and Jalen Powe had an 80-yard kickoff return for a TD in the win for the Blue Devils (1-2).
Lake Forest QB Danny Carollo was 23-for-36 passing for 341 yards and a TD.
Glenbrook South 33, Highland Park 14: D.J. Penick rushed 31 times for 207 yards and a touchdown for Highland Park (1-2).
Quarterback Toby Tigges had the Giants’ other score on a 6-yard run.
David Perry, Mike Clark and Jeff Bonato contributed.
WEEK 3 RESULTS
East Suburban Catholic
Marist 45, St. Viator 28
Nazareth 56, St. Patrick 28
Notre Dame 29, Benet 14
Joliet Catholic 41, Carmel 21
Marian Central 56, Marian Catholic 16
Fox Valley Fox
Prairie Ridge 42, CL Central 7
Hampshire 40, Grayslake Central 17
Woodstock North 17, Woodstock 13
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North Suburban Lake
Warren 34, Lake Forest 28
Stevenson 38, Lake Zurich 35
Libertyville 41, Zion-Benton 0
North Suburban Prairie
Lakes 14, Antioch 9
Vernon Hills 21, Grant 18
Wauconda 40, Round Lake 0
Nonconference
Evanston 28, Glenbrook North 14
Glenbrook South 33, Highland Park 14
Cary-Grove 68, Grayslake North 12
Aurora Christian 32, Lake Forest Academy 21
Maine South 51, Deerfield 7
Mundelein 55, North Chicago 6
Waukegan 44, Maine East 0