Fish To Cokefair Connection Rings Up Third Win For North

AJ Fish's favorite play of the night followed a penalty by the Grayslake North offense.

"It was first-and-long,'' Fish said. "And me and Josh (Cokefair) changed the play at the line. The game was still kind of close. But I knew he had his guy one-on-one and he could beat him."

North beat Hampshire via an air assault on Homecoming Night. Fish threw for a school record 419 yards and fired 5 touchdown passes in the 49-22 romp. Of his 23 completions, 12 went to teammate Josh Cokefair.

Now Cokefair had a different favorite play. It did entail him getting hammered at the end of it.

"I ran over the middle,'' Cokefair said. "And the safety crushed me. But I held onto the ball."

For Fish, who plays both lacrosse and basketball, this was one special night.

"It's just an awesome feeling,'' he said. "It was my best high school experience."

Cokefair echoed some of the same thoughts.

"It's unbelievable,'' he said. "It was homecoming and we couldn't asked for a better game."

Hero: The pitcher and catcher on this night. Quarterback Fish to receiver Cokefair.

Record: North moved to 3-2 with this win.

Who's Next: Attention Woodstock fans. The North air attack is coming to your town. Next Friday night at 7:15 p.m.

The Quote: "We never have had a 200 yards passing,'' said North coach Steve Wood. "Let alone 400 yards."

Bottom Line: When a team finds an aerial attack that works, it becomes a dangerous foe. How long can Fish and company keep this up? Stay tuned but for fans, it's a major treat.

Stat leaders: Fish took part in 7 touchdowns last night. He scored on two touchdown runs as well. He carried 10 times for 86 yards and the two scores.

The air assault was scary good. Fish was 23-30 for 419 yards and the 5 touchdowns. Cokefair caught 3 of those TDs for his new school mark of 272 yards. Also joining in on the passing fun were Matt Schlagetter (3 catches, 43 yards, TD), Drake Davis (2 catches, 20 yards, TD), Andrew Soulis (2-35), Charlie Pine (2-29) and Adam Xoing (2-20).

Katie Lahera made good on all of her 7 extra points.

North won the yardage game as well 550 to 336. Jesse Davis and Connor Morrita paced the North defense with 9 tackles each. Jimmy Prince added 8 tackles including 3 tackles-for-loss.

Wood was pleased with Prince's performance.

"He had a monster game,'' Wood said.

Wood also noted Jake Geary's interception on this night.

"He's playing with a club on his hand,'' Wood said. "And he drags his feet and holds on to the ball for an interception. It was a great play. We went 99 yards after that for a score."