Grens overcome miscues, top Buffalo Grove

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:10PM

The first four times Elk Grove had the ball in its Mid-Suburban East opener, the Grenadiers turned it over.

But after a getting on the board with a safety, quarterback Nick Meyer found the end zone to start the No. 16 Grenadiers on their way to a 23-7 victory over Buffalo Grove Friday night in Elk Grove Village.

After fumbling into the end zone and having two passes intercepted, Buffalo Grove got its fourth turnover of the first half when Blake Potash recovered a fumble by Gren quarterback Nick Meyer inside the Bison 2. But Elk Grove (4-1, 1-0) scored, after a penalty when Joey Bishoff tackled Jimmy Pinakidis for a safety.

After the ensuing kick, Elk Grove drove to the Bison 23, converting a key fourth-and-seven with an eight-yard pass from Meyer to Bishoff, two plays before Meyer ran 23 yards for a score.

"We shot ourselves in the foot and that was really a bad effort by us in the first half," Meyer said. "But we'll take the win and hope to learn from it."

"It was ugly and [the players] are upset," Elk Grove coach Brian Doll said. "No one was very happy in the locker room at halftime."

Buffalo Grove (2-3, 0-1) struck pay dirt on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 64-yard option pass from Brian Busch to Brian Akialis. M.o

But the Grens came right back and drove 69 yards, scoring on a one-yard run by Meyer, who converted a third-and-seven with an 11-yard pass to Mike Wary. Matt Brandt made a 35-yard PAT after an unsportsmanlike penalty to make it 16-7 with 7:24 to play.

After the Bison missed a 47-yard field goal attempt, Meyer ran 65 yards for the final score.

"We just made way too many errors," Doll said. "We are going to have to play better football."

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