QB Ormseth gets Gators’ offense going

Crystal Lake South’s QB Drew Ormseth (left) tries to get around Grant defender Dillon Watters in the first quarter Friday at Grant Community High School in Fox Lake. The Gators won, 41-12. (Candace H. Johnson – Shaw Suburban Media)

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FOX LAKE – Friday night’s start was shaky, but once the season-opener jitters wore off, Crystal Lake South’s football team lived up to its preseason billing.

The Gators rolled over Grant, 41-12, in non-conference play, and every facet of South’s game was either clicking with little effort or clearly just a few weeks away from being completely solid.

After an offseason in which the Gators lost their longtime head coach and after starting this season with assorted injuries during camp, South didn’t need to simply beat the Bulldogs.

The Gators needed to put nails in a coffin.

“Our whole season so far has been battling back from adversity,” senior quarterback Drew Ormseth said. “ ... We’ve already been through a lot.”

It took little time for Ormseth to emerge as the hero Friday night. South (1-0) ran eight total plays in two possessions in the first quarter and came up empty-handed, fumbling once and turning over its second possession on downs.

But Ormseth made sure a poor first quarter didn’t spill into the second. He ran in a 64-yard touchdown with 7 minutes remaining before halftime – the single play that undoubtedly turned the momentum permanently in South’s favor.

Thirty seconds, two possessions and four plays, including Ormseth’s 64-yarder, was all South needed to post 14 points in the second quarter and take a lead it never relinquished.

“It was all great blocking,” said Ormseth, who rushed for 158 yards on seven carries and went 3 for 6 with 80 passing yards. “I cut it back and saw my opening, but all the way down the field it was just good blocking, really.

“I think in the beginning we came out too jacked up. We just needed to calm down a little bit.”

Grant (0-1) scrambled to get something done at the end of the second quarter, and quarterback Leo Minne threw two incomplete passes before eventually getting intercepted by South senior defensive back Kenny King as time expired.

King’s pick set the tone for the third. The Gators kicked off, went for an onside kick and got it, and then used three plays – including a 39-yard run from Ormseth – to score and take a 21-6 advantage 2 minutes into the third quarter.

South scored on every ensuing possession for the remainder of the game, save its final when, with 53 seconds left to play, quarterback Austin Fowler took a knee.

Ormseth completed another highlight-reel-worthy play when he hit receiver Brad Walovitch for a 72-yard touchdown with 7:48 left in the third.

Grant’s Brian Maldonado picked off Ormseth on the Bulldogs’ 1-yard line with 1:08 left in the third, but South senior defensive back Kean Loupee stripped Minne, recovered the fumble and ran it in for a 1-yard touchdown that put South up, 35-6.

“As we continue to get better,” South coach Chuck Ahsmann said, “it’s going to be hard to stop us.”