Chargers fall flat vs. Knights

Dundee-Crown's Nick Torres looks for an opening Thursday night as the Chargers took on Grayslake North in Carpentersville. at DC vs. Grayslake North at DC September 17 2009. (Dave Shields/For The Courier-News)
(Dave Shields/For The Courier-News)

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CARPENTERSVILLE -- Dundee-Crown played like it wasn't ready for the challenge of a mid-week game on Thursday night.

The Chargers were unable to stop Grayslake North's run game and did little on offense in a 41-18 Fox Valley Conference crossover loss.

The visiting Knights (2-2) were on the scoreboard 13 seconds into the game on a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and let their running game take it from there. Grayslake North rushed for 202 yards on 31 carries in the first half.

Following a Danny Sharp fumble, the Knights converted a 68-yard, seven-play drive to go up 14-0 with 7:43 left in the first quarter on a Mike Fraley 8-yard run. Fraley tallied his second TD of the game with 2:20 left as the North lead expanded to 21-0.

The Chargers woes continued on a Knights punt midway through the second as the ball grazed off return man Steve Schwartz and into North hands. Glenn Mizowek's 5-yard run with 4:24 left pushed the lead to 28-0.

Sharp breathed some life into D-C (1-3) with a 70-yard run with 3:33 left in the half to make it 28-6. Before Sharp's run, the Chargers did little on the offensive end, losing five yards on its five previous carries and passing for 35 yards on 12 attempts. Unfortunately, the Chargers could do little to get a momentum boost, allowing another rushing touchdown in the half's final minute to make it 35-6.

Quarterback Nick Torres passed for 85 yards in the half on 7-for-18 passing, with Alex Thompson (6 catches, 82 yards) his favorite target.

After a promising opening drive in the third -- featuring four Torres pass completions -- Sharp fumbled on Grayslake North's 10 and the Knights pounced. A 71-yard pass from Sean Brennan to Matt Robinson increased the lead to 41-6 with 6:56 to go in the third.

D-C got its second score of the game with 1:24 left in third, as Sharp (6 carries, 96 yards) finished a 70-yard drive with a 6-yard TD run to make it 41-12.

Sharp fumbled for the third time of the game on the final play of the third quarter, again at the 10-yard line of Grayslake North.

The highlight of the night for D-C came from Torres -- who completed 10 passes in a row during a period from the late second to late third quarter. Torres' second-half performance pushed him to 303 passing yards on 26 of 48 attempts. He connected with Geoff Clifford (10 catches, 81 yards) for a late 2-yard TD.