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Big changes — and expectations — at Lake Zurich

There was a saying that former Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz liked to pull out at the start of every new season.

“It was that the program was ‘bigger than any one person,’” said Shane Williams, an assistant under Stortz, who was trying to assure his returning players that they would be just fine even if the team’s best players from the year before were lost to graduation.

Williams says the same philosophy held true for how the Bears dealt with Stortz’s departure. He took a new job in the off-season as the head coach at Rock Island, despite building a perennial power at Lake Zurich and winning a state title in 2007.

“The kids were all really sad when they learned they were losing their coach,” Williams said. “But I think they had really listened to what Bryan preached. The program is bigger than any one person, and that goes for players or coaches.

“Everyone just rallied and moved forward so that we could keep things going.”

The transition was made a bit easier since Lake Zurich promoted from within. Stortz’s replacement is Dave Proffitt, who has been an assistant coach at Lake Zurich for several years. He also has head coaching experience, having led Marian Central Catholic in Woodstock for 12 years from 1991 to 2002.

“Everything has been pretty much status quo,” said Williams, who is handling media requests for Proffitt at this point in the season. “Our off-season training and weightlifting pretty much never missed a beat. If an outsider came in and watched the team, it would seem like nothing’s really changed. A lot of things have stayed the same.”

The Bears wouldn’t mind having a similar season to last year. Lake Zurich went 10-3, advancing all the way to the Class 7A semifinals before losing to Rockford Boylan.

“We were just a play short and that was really pretty amazing considering what we faced last year with injuries,” Williams said. “We started 13 different offensive linemen and 19 total different guys on offense. In the semifinal, we were without our quarterback and two offensive linemen and we had a kid playing linebacker who had never played linebacker all season.

“Normally, when that kind of stuff happens to you, you’re going to have a bad season. But our program was built around that “next-man” philosophy, that if something bad happens, it’s not the end of the world for the program because someone else can step up and we can move forward.”

The Bears will have to have plenty of new players step up this fall.

Only two full-time starters from last year return on offense: linemen Jerry Bauer (6-foot-2, 230 pounds) and Matt Schirmann (6-foot-2, 225).

“We’re going to be very young, especially on offense,” Williams said. “But we’ve also got a lot of kids who worked hard in the off-season and are excited to get an opportunity.”

Conner Schrader and Jake Stauner will be getting more opportunities on offense this year.

Schrader played both ways last season as a defensive lineman and running back. He started on defense and got spot duty on offense. He’ll be featured in the offensive backfield this season. Meanwhile, Stauner started half the season at running back but then battled injuries. He’s healthy now and will be shifting his focus to quarterback this year.

“Jake actually was a quarterback growing up in youth football,” Williams said. “And he was the quarterback of the freshman and sophomore teams. He was behind Zach Till last year at quarterback so we made him a running back because he’s just so good that we felt like we needed him on the field somewhere.

“It will be really good for Jake to move back to quarterback. It’s where he feels comfortable. He’s a double threat for us there. He can throw, and obviously he can run.”

Lake Zurich is looking to stay balanced offensively, but as in the past, will be primarily a running team. Helping Schrader and Stauner in that area will be senior Kody Schaar, who didn’t get much playing time last year as a junior but has been impressive over the summer.

Defensively, the Bears return five starters, including a couple of speedy cornerbacks in Grant Soucy and Sean Lynch. The defense will also get a boost as Jack Sweeney (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) will flip from the offensive to the defensive line.

LAKE ZURICH

HEAD COACH: David Proffitt (first season)

LAST SEASON: 10-3, 5-1 in North Suburban Lake Division, lost to Rockford Boylan in Class 7A state semifinals

HOMECOMING: Friday, Oct. 5 vs. Libertyville, 7:30 p.m.

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