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Football: Scouting Week 2, Lake County

Stevenson (1-0) at Homewood-Flossmoor (1-0)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Stevenson def. Lyons, 35-28; Homewood-Flossmoor def. Marian Catholic, 35-7.

Last year’s result: teams did not play each other.

Skinny: It’s a battle of two teams that reached the Class 8A state quarterfinals last season. Both squads impressed Opening Night. “H-F is a very well coached and an athletic football team,” Patriots coach Bill McNamara said of coach Craig Buzea’s Vikings. “They had a great Week 1 win over Marian Catholic. They have many weapons on offense and a tough defense. We will have to be ready to play from the second we walk off the bus.” Stevenson sophomore QB Willie Bourbon was great in his first varsity start, completing 14-of-25 passes for 337 yards. He threw a pair of touchdown passes to Matt Morrissey (6 catches, 163 yards) and one to Alan Velev (3 catches, 105 yards). Danny Nowak led the Patriots on the ground with 82 yards on 13 carries.

— Joe Aguilar

Grayslake North (0-1) at Round Lake (0-1)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Grayslake North lost to Lakes, 35-21; Round Lake lost to Grayslake Central, 14-0.

Last year’s result: Grayslake North def. Round Lake, 49-6.

Skinny: With three-year varsity QB A.J. Fish throwing and running, Grayslake North can put up points in a hurry. In contrast, Round Lake failed to score any points Opening Night. The Panthers managed only 52 yards of total offense against Grayslake Central, a performance that was disappointing to coach John Coursey. “We’ve been much better than that,” Coursey said after the game. “I don’t know if it was because we had guys who had played only a little bit and didn’t have a lot of experience, or they got a little nervous. But their effort was good.” Round Lake’s defense also played well, with Texas-transfer Freddy Araiza and Zach Williamson leading the way. The Panthers will face a Knights offense that received a pair of rushing TDs from Fish against Lakes. Fish rushed 26 times for 104 yards and completed 16-of-25 passes for 177 yards.

— Joe Aguilar

Prairie Ridge (1-0) at Mundelein (0-1)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Prairie Ridge def. Glenbard South, 35-28; Mundelein lost to Wheeling, 23-22.

Last year’s result: teams did not play each other.

Skinny: Mundelein’s young squad might not play a tougher opponent all season, as the defending Class 6A state champs bring their vaunted triple-option offense to play on Mundelein’s new artificial turf. “They’re a great football team,” said first-year Mustangs coach George Kaider, who’s familiar with the Wolves program from his days as an assistant coach at McHenry. “They play low and fast, and that’s a great combination. Actually, they remind me of our old McHenry teams.” Against Glenbard South, Wolves RB Kingsley Ebirim carried 28 times for 158 yards and 2 TDs, while QB Oliver Kremer rushed for 62 yards and passed for 117 and a score. Brandon Barnes kicked 2 field goals. “They’re big and physical, and they run to the football on defense,” Kaider said. “I think they’re a team that can go deep into the playoffs again this year.” ... Mundelein figures to be without senior middle linebacker Dominic Paliani, whose shoulder popped out twice against Wheeling. “He’s a winner,” Kaider said. Mustangs freshman QB Gavin Graves had an impressive high school debut, throwing for 173 yards on 18-of-30 passing. He tossed an 11-yard TD strike to Chance Lindsey (9 catches, 117 yards). The Mustangs also got 141 rushing yards from Emanuel Jones, who busted off 92-yard TD run.

— Joe Aguilar

Warren (0-1) at New Trier (0-1)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Warren lost to Maine South, 28-14; New Trier lost to Schaumburg, 27-14.

Last year’s result: New Trier def. Warren, 21-7.

Skinny: Both teams are looking to rebound from Opening Night defeats. Warren spotted Class 8A power Maine South a 21-0 halftime lead and never recovered, scoring a pair of late touchdowns to make the final score respectable. Blue Devils RB Davonte Wilcox showed off his playmaking abilities with an 80-yard TD dash. Second-year starting QB Adam Reuss added an 11-yard scoring pass to Javon Charleston. ... Against Schaumburg, New Trier junior QB Frank Nicholas carried the ball 26 times for 93 yards. The Trevians surrendered 3 touchdowns to the Saxons’ Juwaan Richard, who returned a pair of kickoffs for scores.

— Joe Aguilar

Lake Zurich (1-0) at Cary-Grove (1-0)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Lake Zurich d. Fremd, 21-0; Cary-Grove def. St. Charles East, 49-33.

Last year’s result: Cary-Grove def. Lake Zurich, 10-7.

Skinny:Lake Zurich enters ranked No. 8 in Class 7A. Despite a convincing victory last week, Cary-Grove slipped out of the top 10 in the Class 7A state poll but still gained 22 votes. Both teams’ triple-option offenses looked good Opening Night. Jake Stauner made his first varsity start at quarterback for Lake Zurich and was impressive, picking up 97 yards on the ground on 11 rushes. He also completed 4 of 5 passes. When Stauner was handing off or pitching the ball, it was usually to fellow veteran Connor Schrader, who had 115 yards on 25 carries. The LZ defense didn’t allow any Fremd rusher to gain more than 48 yards and held the Vikings to 101 yards passing. “Their defense is very good again,” C-G coach Brad Seaburg said. “Even though they don’t have size across the board like in the past, they have some guys that do stand out. They get to the ball very, very fast, which is a concern.” ... Cary-Grove was unstoppable on offense against St. Charles East, rushing for 436 yards and scoring 7 touchdowns. RB Kyle Norberg, who played linebacker the last two years, carried 21 times for 189 yards and a score, and QB Quinn Baker gained 161 yards on the ground on 23 attempts. Baker scored 3 TDs. Lake Zurich’s offense will have to keep an eye on Mickey Duncan, who had 3 sacks against St. Charles East in addition to blocking a punt and recovering it for a touchdown.

— Joe Aguilar

Wauconda (1-0) at Chicago Orr (0-1)

When: 1 p.m., Saturday

Last week: Wauconda def. Woodstock, 21-7; Orr lost to Thornton, 56-8.

Last year’s result: The teams did not play each other.

Skinny: The two squads meet for the first time since 2009, when Wauconda pulled out a 14-7 win. Wauconda got a solid all-around effort Opening Night, as running back David Starkey rushed 27 times for 167 yards and a touchdown, while Mike Prate had a goal-line interception as part of a defensive effort that shut out Woodstock over the final three quarters. Bulldogs QB Austin Swenson threw a pair of TD passes to Chris Kass. ... Orr’s Spartans went 4-5 last year.

— Joe Aguilar

Glenbard North (0-1) at Carmel (0-1)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Glenbard North lost to Batavia, 42-41; Carmel lost to Lincoln-Way East, 31-6.

Skinny: It turns out that the special teams weren’t so special for Carmel in last week’s loss to Lincoln-Way East. The Corsairs gave up a blocked punt for a touchdown and could never recover. “That pretty much changed the entire game,” said Carmel coach Andy Bitto, who was without starting punter Matt Ryan. “We also had other mistakes (in the kicking game) that gave them field position. I’d say we gave away at least 10 points because of problems in that area.”…Needless to say, the Corsairs are disappointed, angry even. They might find some common ground there with Glenbard North. “This should be a really good game against Glenbard North,” Bitto said. “They lost a heartbreaker last week, so they should be coming into this game ticked off, too.”…Both teams will also run the ball a lot as well. Senior quarterback Josh Walinski missed most of last season with an injury but stayed healthy last week despite taking a beating in Carmel’s option offense. “Josh is good and he’s a kid we can win with,” Bitto said. “But we’ve got to clean up our blocking issues. We made some mistakes there.” Meanwhile, Glenbard North likes to get the ball into the hands of quarterback Ryan Murphy and running back Justin Jackson. Murphy will be wrestling at Michigan next year and Jackson already has four Division I football offers, including schools such as Illinois and Colorado. “Those two kids are tough as nails, just really hard, fast runners,” Bitto said. “We’re going to have our hands full.”

— Patricia Babcock McGraw

Grayslake Central (1-0) at Grant (1-0)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Grayslake Central defeated Round Lake, 14-0; Grant defeated Johnsburg, 42-7.

Skinny: With 10 new starters on defense alone, there are plenty of new faces at Grant this season. However, there are enough guys back from last year’s team who remember what happened in Week 2 against Grayslake Central. It was a 32-21 loss that was even more decisive than the final score indicated. “They pretty much came out and punched us in the mouth last year,” Grant coach Kurt Rous said of Grayslake Central. “They played very well, we did not play well at all and they ran over us. We definitely want to make amends for that.” … Grant, which ran right over Johnsburg last week, will be in good shape if its rushing game hits on all cylinders again. Against Johnsburg, the Bulldogs rolled up 350 rushing yards, more than half of which came in the first quarter alone. Jonathan Wells ran for 171 yards and quarterback Kyle Whitman added 64. Neither played in the second half … Grayslake Central, also a run-oriented team, got 74 yards and a touchdown run out of new quarterback Alex Lennartz in last week’s win over Round Lake. Lennartz’s one and only pass happened to go for a touchdown (10 yards). ... Meanwhile, the Rams’ defense was super stingy, allowing just 52 yards of total offense for Round Lake.

— Patricia Babcock McGraw

Vernon Hills (1-0) at St. Francis (1-0)

When: 7 p.m., today

Where: College of DuPage

Last week: Vernon Hills defeated Dunbar, 38-22; Wheaton St. Francis defeated Riverside-Brookfield, 57-12.

Skinny: Vernon Hills was just three seconds away from going to the playoffs last season. Theoretically speaking, anyway. The Cougars lost a heartbreaking 22-21 decision to St. Francis during the regular season when St. Francis scored with three seconds left and then converted on a 2-point conversion. “We wound up 5-4 last season, and the fact that we didn’t make it into the playoffs made that loss (to St. Francis) even harder,” Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken said. “But we made some mistakes on that final drive. We had some penalties and blown assignments. They probably wouldn’t have scored if we had been more on top of things there. I’m expecting another toe-to-toe game like that with them again this time.” ... St. Francis returns a lot of starters, including two linemen who are headed to Michigan and Vanderbilt. … The Cougars will look to run their option offense around running back Dylan McNamara and quarterback Brett Peterson. McNamara rolled up 147 yards on 15 carries last week while Peterson ran for 97 yards and 3 touchdowns. Vernon Hills must watch the turnovers, though. The Cougars fumbled the ball five times and lost it twice against Dunbar.

— Patricia Babcock McGraw

Waukegan (0-1) at Antioch (1-0)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Waukegan lost to North Chicago, 30-26; Antioch defeated Lake Forest Academy, 35-26.

Skinny: One concern Antioch coach Brian Glashagel had coming out of last week’s win at Lake Forest Academy was that his defense gave up too many big plays. Uh-oh. Waukegan can be a big-play team, too. “They’ve got speed, they’ve got talent and they can strike quickly,” Glashagel said of Antioch. “Some of the things Waukegan can do with their speed, we can’t even simulate in practice. We’ve really got to be focused on defense. We can’t give up those big plays. We need to make Waukegan earn every down. … Last week against Lake Forest Academy, sophomore quarterback Alan Taylor earned some fans on the coaching staff with his poise. He ran for 53 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown and also passed for a 21-yard touchdown. “He really handled the pressure,” Glashagel said. “Going from freshman football to varsity is a big jump and Alan was calm and performed well even with some adversity.” … Like Antioch, Waukegan also starts a sophomore quarterback, Melvin Bobo IV.

— Patricia Babcock McGraw

Woodstock North (1-0) at Lakes (1-0)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Woodstock North defeated Elmwood Park, 34-10; Lakes defeated Grayslake North, 35-21.

Skinny: The Lakes offense was difficult to defend last week because it struck a nice balance between the rushing and passing game. Quarterback T. J. Edwards completed 14-of-19 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, running back Direll Clark rolled up 140 yards and 2 touchdowns on 20 carries. … Defensively, the Eagles had trouble with the resourcefulness of Grayslake North quarterback A.J. Fish, who made multiple big plays both through the air and on the ground. … Woodstock North also had no trouble with making big plays, putting 34 points on the board. The Thunder is coming off a 7-3 season under coach Jeff Schroeder. Lakes, playing its first home game, went 9-3 last year.

— Patricia Babcock McGraw

Urban Prep Charter (0-1) at Libertyville (1-0)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Urban Prep Charter lost to Oak Forest, 55-6; Libertyville defeated Barrington, 24-20.

Skinny: A 24-0 victory might seem like a cakewalk on paper. But for Libertyville, last year’s shutout of Urban Prep was anything but. “It was a tough game for us,” Libertyville coach Mike Jones said. “Their defense gave us absolute fits. They put a lot of people at the point of attack and we didn’t always handle it very well. We had some turnovers.” … The Wildcats hurt themselves in last week’s win over Barrington, too. “We had some bad penalties and mistakes that really stopped us from getting much going in the first half,” said Jones, whose team rallied from a 20-3 halftime deficit. “It was a lot of just stopping ourselves. We need to be a lot more consistent this week and avoid the mistakes and breakdowns. A breakdown here or there, even a small one, can really make a difference.”…Quarterback Jack Deichl and receivers Austin Williams and Justin Guarnaccio were difference-makers against Barrington. Deichl completed 18-of-21 passes and was clutch in Libertyville’s second-half rally. Williams and Guarnaccio each caught 7 passes after halftime

— Patricia Babcock McGraw

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