Till finds Lynn, and LZ goes on to win

Lake Zurich senior linebacker Jack Lynn, a future Gopher, was a go-to guy on Friday night — on offense.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Lynn, bound for more success at Minnesota, caught a pair of first-half touchdown passes from classmate Zach Till in the Bears’ 41-7 defeat of host Mundelein.

“Wherever my coaches want to put me, I’m fine with that,” Lynn said after the North Suburban Conference Lake division game.

Lynn (4 catches, 109 yards) was fine Friday night.

And dandy.

His 27-yard TD reception, at 6:13 of the first quarter, was his first tally, via a catch, since 2009, against an undefeated Warren squad.

Till and Lynn struck again early in the second quarter on Friday, with this one covering 49 yards. Lynn, from a slot, caught an over-the-middle dart and raced past Mustang after Mustang to put the visitors up 13-0.

“We need to get Jack going and more involved, offensively,” said Bears football coach Bryan Stortz, whose club led 28-0 at the half – just like it had in last week’s 28-0 win over Lakes. “He’s so valuable in other areas, not just on defense.

“But,” he added, “we’re not going to let him reach the point where he gets too spent.”

LZ junior running back Connor Schrader also was money at Mundelein, scoring a couple of 1-yard TD runs and finishing with 60 yards on 10 carries. LZ (4-1, 2-0) traveled 35 yards for its final TD, at 3:09 of the third quarter.

Schrader’s rushing total on the drive: 35 yards, on 6 carries.

“Our ability to finish … that’s something we’d been emphasizing,” Stortz said. “We didn’t do that in the second half (against Lakes). We improved in that area tonight.”

LZ’s defense, once again, was ridiculously dominant, limiting Mundelein (0-4, 0-3) to 2 yards rushing in the first half. Mustangs senior quarterback Gable Leppert passed for 63 of his 103 yards before the break.

Leppert found senior wideout Drew Malcolm (5 receptions, 60 yards) for a 22-yard TD at 8:05 of the fourth quarter, after LZ’s 41-0 advantage had triggered a running clock.

“(Lake Zurich) is physically strong, mentally strong,” said Malcolm, who suffered a hip injury early in the fourth quarter. “Their players are tough, disciplined.”

Lynn?

Jack Lynn?

“He’s good … oh, he’s good,” Malcolm said.

LZ senior wideout John Orlando stood out on special teams, returning the opening kickoff of the second half 47 yards and, shortly thereafter, a punt for 37 yards. Each sprint preceded a TD drive.

Junior wideout Jake Stauner (4-yard TD reception) and senior running back Mike Shield (4-yard TD run) authored the Bears’ other scores Friday night. Shield (11 carries, 78 yards) paced all rushers.

Till threw for 161 yards (9-of-17) and 3 TDs, giving him 5 scoring tosses in eight days.