Joshua Grant plays defender for Homewood-Flossmoor, but the 6-foot-2 senior also has the size and strength to give opposing defenses headaches on the other end of the field.
And Grant is not totally unfamiliar with being a playmaker on offense. When he gets scoring opportunities, that gives him the chance to revert back to his old self.
“I used to be a striker when I was a kid, so I have experience in that position,” Grant said. “I still remember how to do it. Set pieces are my main chance.
“Me being a taller, bigger guy, my team can count on me to be a target.”
The Vikings could certainly rely on Grant on Tuesday night. He scored two goals to help H-F fight back from a pair of two-goal deficits and rally for a 4-3 win over Thornton co-op in a Class 3A Stagg Regional semifinal in Palos Hills.
Ezekiel Peprah delivered the game-winning goal for the ninth-seeded Vikings (10-9-2), while Sean Szostak added a goal and two assists. Jefferson Mansfield made three saves, including a huge stop on a penalty kick with under five minutes left.
H-F will take on top-seeded Stagg (15-4-2) — which edged 16th-seeded Shepard 1-0 — at 10 a.m. Saturday in the regional final.
Johnny Ortiz recorded a hat trick for seventh-seeded Thornton co-op (10-9-1). Ortiz scored twice in a four-minute stretch to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead less than 12 minutes into the game.
But Grant had the answers. First, he ripped in a free kick from 25 yards, burying his shot in the top-right corner of the net.
Then — after Ortiz completed his hat trick to give Thornton a 3-1 advantage — Grant responded once more, heading in Szostak’s corner kick to again pull the Vikings within one.
“Josh really showed us that we can’t give up,” Peprah said. “It’s playoffs and it’s all or nothing. I believed in him to get one goal. He got the second one and I was like, ‘Wow.’
“I was just happy for my brother. I was really proud of him and we literally won with him.”
Grant, who now has five goals for the season, was definitely thrilled to deliver when his team desperately needed it.
“It was exciting,” he said. “We’ve been working all our lives for this, so as a team, it was inevitable for us to perform like this.”
H-F coach Jairo Garcia has watched Grant develop into a dependable force.
“He’s been one of those guys that steps up in big moments,” Garcia said. “He’s always dangerous.
“He’s a big guy. From freshman year to where he’s at now, there’s been a tremendous change in his game, change in his mentality. I’m really proud of that kid.”
Grant’s heroics set the stage for the Vikings’ comeback. After they went into halftime down 3-2, Szostak tied the game with 33:45 to play and Peprah gave H-F the lead for good by scoring on a laser-like shot from 35 yards with 29:01 to go.
“Sean passed it to me,” Peprah said. “I turned and it was wide open. Nobody was guarding me, so I figured I might as well take it. We got the goal and I felt inspired. I felt amazing.
“I knew we just had to finish off the game.”
H-F, which will play in a regional championship game for the first time since 2015, sure has come a long way from last season’s 4-16-1 finish.
“We’ve been working so long for this moment and we deserve this,” Grant said. “Now we want to keep it going Saturday and do it together.”
Grant grew up playing basketball and soccer, but the latter sport grew into his passion.
“I absolutely love this game,” he said. “It’s my favorite sport. I grew up with these guys who are still my teammates. I’ve been playing with them my whole life and we have great memories.”
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