Grayslake North’s Charles Pritchard already had a season as a starting cornerback under his belt, but he wanted more.
Specifically, the senior wanted to add a receiver’s responsibilities to his portfolio.
A month into the 2022 season, Pritchard’s offensive gambit has been so successful, he has been deemed too valuable to return to his defensive roots.
“I knew I wanted to be a receiver the whole time, even going back to last year,” he said. “Then, in this offseason, I got into the mentality that I was a receiver, and I talked to coach (Brian Johnson) about it, and he was totally cool with it.”
Everyone else associated with the program is cool with it too.
Pritchard made his third touchdown catch of the season during Grayslake North’s 27-17 Northern Lake County Conference win against crosstown rival Grayslake Central on Friday.
Pritchard, who caught two passes for 9 yards for the Knights (4-0, 2-0), actually had his lowest output of the season against the Rams (3-1, 1-1). Johnson said there was a good explanation for that.
“To Grayslake Central’s credit, they tried to take him away a little bit, and that’s why he didn’t get as many touches,” Johnson said. “But that opened things up for our other receivers.”
Indeed, sophomore Cam Bates had six catches, and senior Michael Jefferson and DeAndre Neely each caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Jacob Donohue.
To get the win, the Knights had to overcome an incredible performance by Grayslake Central senior Kaiden Miller, who already had set the program record for career TD catches. He was all over the field, rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown, taking a screen pass 50 yards for another TD and returning a kickoff 80 yards. He also intercepted a Donohue pass on the last play of the first half.
“I think I played a great game, but I didn’t play a great enough game for my team,” Miller said. “I don’t mind having a big workload at all. I love it, and I love the game.”
Much less established on offense than Miller, Pritchard got to this point by putting in the work during offseason conditioning and continuing with on-field work during the summer, when footwork drills and route running with Donohue and the other receivers became commonplace.
“That’s the best thing about our team is that when you want to come and work, everyone’s included,” Pritchard said. “They helped mold me into what I am and gave me the confidence that I needed to get there.”
He got there fast. Pritchard had 12 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown in the Knights’ season-opening win against Vernon Hills. He added 11 more catches and another TD in two subsequent wins.
It comes at a good time for the Knights, who lost multiple receivers to graduation.
“We all knew there were openings and knew we had to step up,” Pritchard said. “It wasn’t like we were going to turn into a running team because we still had Jacob. So keep this as a pass-dominant offense.”
Pritchard is so entrenched on offense that he has a good feel for what he can do well.
“I always do my best to get open when Jacob rolls out so he has an outlet if he needs one,” he said. “And yards after the catch, I’m not a jukey move player. I’m just going to put my head down and run the ball forward when I get it.”
It didn’t take long for Donohue to recognize he had something in Pritchard.
“He always finds a way to get open and is always a man I trust to get the ball to,” Donohue said. “When I’m scrambling, he always seems to know where I want to go with the ball. I always see him.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.