Naperville North senior defensive tackle Lawson Grier had never touched the football in a varsity game.
But he knew what to do if he ever got the chance.
“We practice scoop-and-scores, where the ball is on the ground and you pick it up and you run with it,” Grier said.
That’s exactly what the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Grier did when he saw Waubonsie Valley receiver Tyler Threat drop the ball on a reverse in the first quarter Friday night.
Grier pounced on the loose ball, hesitated a moment to make sure he had a good grip and then raced 53 yards for his first career touchdown.
“First of all, I just didn’t want to drop it because I knew it was slippery,” he said. “So I kind of picked it up a little slow, and then I just gunned it.
“I was just trying to make it there as fast as I can and score.”
Grier proved he runs well, but he had several teammates escorting him to the end zone.
“I think William Korosec was next to me,” Grier said. “It’s kind of hard to remember (all of them). It felt good that everybody was around me blocking for me. Scoring that touchdown and celebrating with everybody was great.”
Grier’s score snapped a scoreless tie and sparked the host Huskies’ 28-7 DuPage Valley Conference victory that nearly assures them of a playoff berth.
Waubonsie Valley (4-4, 2-3) must beat Naperville North (5-3, 3-2) at home in the regular-season finale to have a shot at the playoffs.
“It’s super important,” Grier said of the victory. “This game set the tone for next game, so we’ve got to come out and still give it to them.
“It makes us pretty confident, but we’re not going to let down at all.”
Grier never lets down. He has anchored a stalwart defensive line, recording 37 tackles, including 16 for loss, which ranks third on the team. His five sacks are tied for the team lead with sophomore defensive tackle Gabriel Hill.
“He’s been phenomenal for us,” Naperville North coach Sean Drendel said of Grier. “Any time those guys can get more recognition, it’s good. They provide us with chances to kind of feel our way through the start and find out what we can do and what we can’t do.
“Penalties have hurt us all year, and they hurt us again tonight. But once we got things going, we moved the ball and made plays.”
Indeed, after posting negative yardage in the first quarter, the Huskies finally got their offense going when junior quarterback Jacob Bell tossed a 29-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Cole Arl with 18 seconds left in the first half for a 14-7 lead.
Arl scampered 23 yards for another touchdown in the third quarter, and Bell found senior receiver Carson Marlar on a 25-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter.
Bell said Grier’s defensive touchdown was the catalyst.
“It totally set the tone,” Bell said. “It’s what we expect from guys like Lawson on this team, big players make that make big plays. Our energy rose at the moment he did that.”
Even so, the Warriors tied the game at 7-7 when senior quarterback Luke Elsea fired a 41-yard TD pass to Minnesota-bound tight end Julian Johnson. But they got past Naperville North’s 45-yard line only once after that.
Elsea was intercepted by Korosec, a senior cornerback, and Purdue recruit Luke Williams in the second half, while Grier had four tackles and batted down two passes.
Plays like that are reassuring to Bell and the rest of the Huskies’ offense.
“It’s really beneficial to our energy and our tempo as an offense,” Bell said. “Our heads are always up because we can count on our defense to make big plays.”
Grier, who has an offer from Roosevelt, is a big playmaker, but he won’t take all the credit.
“Everybody is in it together,” he said. “Everybody played a good game and chipped in like they were supposed to, and everybody did their job.”
How does Grier feel he’s playing?
“I’m playing pretty good,” he said. “There’s always more to work for, so I just want to keep going, see how far we can go in the playoffs.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
