Elk Grove's half full in win over Niles North

A 41-point first half is nice, but Elk Grove football coach Brian Doll will take a shutout every time. He got his wish witha 41-0 season-opening win over visiting Niles North on Friday night.

"The shutout is nice," Doll said. "A team like that can pop one any time.

"Our speed was a big difference. I saw in the first defensive series that the kids were moving so fast, and that's experience."

But you can't forget those 41 points in the first half, either. Quarterback Nick Meyer had his hand in 5 of the 6 touchdowns, finishing the game completing 13-of-19 passes for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns, while running for two more.

Meyer gave Niles North something to think about on the very first play from scrimmage when he hit Eddie Stahl with a short pass that Stahl turned into a 48-yard gain.

"The coaches figured out that the flat guy was open," Meyer said. "They were going to give us the flat, and we took what they gave us."

Mike Wary's 8-yard run opened the scoring for the Grens.

"Last season, everything was new," Wary said. "This year, we have 17 returning starters."

Meyer connected with Stahl (3 receptions, 87 yards) for a 26-yard touchdown with 6:44 left, and he found Joey Bishoff (5 receptions, 75 yards) for a 13-yard touchdown at the 1:23 mark.

Jimmy Sanders' interception gave Elk Grove yet another scoring opportunity, and two plays later, Meyer scored on a 22-yard run, giving the Grens a 28-0 lead.

Meyer's 59-yard run made it 35-0 with 9:07 left in the half.

"I love the quote from a coach, who said, 'When (Nick) touches the ball, you hold your breath,'" Doll said. "He played with a lot of confidence and showed a different kind of leadership than last year.

"In the second half, he helped out our junior quarterback (Dejan Basara). He showed a lot of maturity."

Meyer finished his evening by hooking up on a beautiful stop-and-go pattern to Eddie Solorio (4 receptions for 64 yards) from 38 yards out with 29.9 seconds left in the half, activating the running clock for the second half.

"He did a real good job on that," Meyer said. "He's the fastest kid on the team."

"Eddie had a real good first game last year and then got hurt against Palatine," Doll said.

Starting the season with high expectations, it would have been easy for the team to look ahead to next week's Mid-Suburban League crossover against Barrington, but the Grens were focused on the visiting Vikings.

"I think that's our off-season program," Doll said. "It was all about beating Niles North all summer. One of our goals was to win the first game."