Lake Zurich responds at Vernon Hills
Visiting Lake Zurich's streak of 12 straight trips to the football playoffs was in serious jeopardy after three quarters Friday night at Vernon Hills.
But trailing 21-18 heading into the final quarter, the Bears' offense exploded in the final 12 minutes as they outscored the Cougars 20-0 the rest of the way in a 38-21 North Suburban crossover victory to finish the regular season.
Lake Zurich (5-4) is almost a certainty to earn an at-large playoff berth in Class7A when the pairings are announced on Saturday night.
Vernon Hills (5-4) still has a chance to qualify for a berth to the state playoffs. But the Cougars are definitely on the bubble with 38 points to their credit this season.
Trailing 9-3 at halftime, the Bears' turnaround really started in the third quarter when junior running back Ben Klett (200 yards on 28 carries) started to find good running room.
A 27-yard run by Klett got the Lake Zurich offense going in the right direction before Klett spun away from a defender and broke down the left sideline for a 49-yard TD run with 5:33 left in the second quarter.
Junior Jake Kubin booted the extra point to give the Bears a 10-9 edge. But Vernon Hills was not ready to fold in what turned out to be a wild third quarter.
Vernon Hills quarterback Connor McNamara (20-for-36, 281 yards passing) struck back quickly as he found junior teammate Kiwanne Durant cutting over the middle for a 35-yard TD pass to give the Cougars the lead back at 15-10.
Lake Zurich was not fazed by that score, though, as Klett went 56 yards for the touchdown the next time he touched the ball. This time, Klett went basically untouched down the left sideline before he added a 2-point conversion run for an 18-15 lead just 15 seconds after Durant's touchdown.
The see-saw battle continued to feature the offense on both sides as McNamara hit senior teammate Robby Nardini with a 15-yard TD pass over the middle to cap a 9-play, 66-yard scoring drive as Vernon Hills regained the lead at 21-18.
That would be the end of the line for the Cougars, though, as Lake Zurich quarterback Joey Lindstrom (4-for-6, 114 yards passing) connected with senior teammate Trevor Staley deep over the middle on second down as Staley scored on the 55-yard TD pass.
The extra point kick by Kubin gave the Bears the lead for keeps at 25-21 with 11:51 to play.
What a difference a half made for Klett as he rushed for 155 of his 200 yards in the second half.
"Our linemen just stepped it up and they got past all of the penalties they had," said Klett, whose team had 12 penalties for 120 yards overall. "They made the holes happen, the offensive coordinator had the plays right, and I just ran through them."
An interception by Lake Zurich senior Nate Repplinger was huge early in the fourth quarter as Repplinger took the interception from his own 46 to the Vernon Hills 28.
Then came the real back-breaker for the Cougars as Klett went 28 yards off right tackle for the touchdown on the very next play to extend the lead to 31-21 with 10:59 remaining.
"We told the boys at halftime if they want this to be their last game to keep playing like they are," said Lake Zurich coach Dave Proffitt. "We had to step it up and we did, and it was their decision if they wanted to keep playing."
"The kids made their mind up to do what we coach them to do and our offense had to get going because they're pretty good offensively and you can't let them stay on the field," added Proffitt.
After a punt by the Cougars, the Bears got going on offense one more time as they started to work on running the clock.
This time, Lake Zurich went 60 yards on 10 plays with senior Zach Hilt (43 yards on 8 rushes) scoring on a 3-yard TD run to cap the scoring with 1:55 to play.
"You can only keep them down for so long, they're a good program and a good team, and our kids left it on the field tonight," said Vernon Hills coach Bill Bellecomo. "I think they wore us out, and we had our opportunities to score more, but we left a lot of points on the field."
"We're on the bubble and these kids deserve a playoff game the way they played down the stretch," added Bellecomo.
Vernon Hills took an early 7-0 lead as sophomore Kyle Hull scored on a 1-yard run before Kaitlin Grammins kicked the extra point.
The Bears cut the gap to 7-3 on a 29-yard field goal by Kubin late in the first quarter. The Cougars went ahead 9-3 on a safety as the ball was snapped over Kubin's head and into the end zone on a punt attempt midway through the second quarter.
"We are still not playing four quarters of football," said Proffitt. "But our defense played decent in the first half and they kept us in the ballgame."