Lodico, Lake Zurich pull away from Mundelein
Both football teams had reasons to smile at halftime Friday night. Underdog Mundelein held home-standing Lake Zurich to a pair of Ben Klett touchdowns and felt right in the game at the break. The Bears, losers of two straight, were glad to be up a pair of scores in the North Suburban Lake Division game.
In fact, coach George Kaider had his Mustangs in position to win their first game and be homecoming spoilers.
"It was much closer than the score showed," Kaider said. "They had one breakaway play and our fumble. I didn't think they had an answer for our option play. It was very close at halftime."
Lake Zurich owned the second half, however. The Bears handed he ball to senior Zane Lodico and his 2 third-quarter touchdown runs paved the way to a 35-8 victory.
"Our line did the job,'' Lodico said. "I just ran through the holes. We bounced back from our losses. We just need to keep on improving. Our coach had just one word for us at halftime. It was 'Finish.' "
Lake Zurich (2-2, 1-1) has always been a run-first team, but on this night junior quarterback Joey Lindstrom took to the air for the game's first score.
On the Bears' second possession of the evening, he fired a 56-yard TD pass to Klett.
Klett had his name called again on the Bears' next offensive series. His first carry netted 65 yards. From the Mustangs 10-yard line, the junior carried two more times for the second score of the game.
"We have to be able to run the ball," Lake Zurich coach David Proffitt said. "At times, we had some mental mistakes. But in the second half, we stopped them on the first drive defensively and got the ball rolling."
Making it 21-0 in the third quarter, Lodico had his No. 14 called five times and his first touchdown measured 10 yards. A poor punt by Mundelein set the Bears up deep in Mustangs territory. Lodico made it 28-0 on a 22-yard gallop. In the meantime, the Bears defense was tossing a shutout.
Lake Zurich strong safety Trevor Staley felt good about his team's defensive play.
"Everybody was running to the ball," Staley said. "We had eight guys around the ball. We prevented the big play. We knew this was a must game. Plus, it was homecoming."
Both teams ran in extra players in the fourth quarter. Zach Hilt's 8-yard burst made it 35-0 Lake Zurich.
Mundelein (0-4, 0-2) dented the scoreboard late in the final quarter. Quarterback Colten Fisher set up the score with a 28-yard pass to Issac Banuelos. The junior Banuelos got the TD call from 5 yards out. Speedy captain Robert Hamilton ran in the conversion for the game's final score.
"We are getting better every day," Kaider said. "We are still a young team. We had only two starting seniors returning on defense."