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Libertyville's run extends past Addison Trail

Once Addison Trail's once-beaten football team couldn't do what it does best, it allowed Jordan McInerney to do what he does best.

Harass the quarterback.

It added up to 5 second-half sacks for Libertyville's 6-foot-5, 210-pound defensive end. And with quarterback Riley Lees doing what he does best — zig, zag, zip, jump, shake, roll, bounce, lean and squeeze through defenders — the 11th-seeded Wildcats were on their way to securing their first state-quarterfinal appearance since they won state 10 years ago.

Lees rushed 25 times for 214 yards and his 30th and 31st touchdowns of the season, and host Libertyville eliminated No. 3 Addison Trail 17-7 in a Class 7A second-round playoff game Saturday.

The Wildcats registered 7 of their 9 sacks in the second half and held the Blazers to a measly 5 yards rushing. The hosts even snuffed out a lateral for a 10-yard loss.

“You got to give them credit because they took us out of what we've been doing well all year,” Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet said. “They took us out of running the football. We weren't able to get the run game established, and it caused us to have to do things that we haven't had to do all year.”

Ben Kimpler, Scott Larak, Quincy Kayle and Mark Dunsing also had sacks for Libertyville. Karl Braun aided McInerney on one, while Kimpler also registered a tackle for loss on Blazers QB Ryan Zygowicz. Brian Murphy and Anthony Tubek had interceptions for Libertyville (8-3), which will visit No. 15 Fenwick (7-4) next.

“Defensively, the key was to read,” McInerney said. “They do a lot of zones. This whole we've been practicing for that zone. We just stopped them. We did our jobs. We did our responsibilities.”

Libertyville built a 17-0 lead and took that advantage into the fourth quarter. After Addison Trail (9-2) twice denied Lees from the 1-yard line, Lees made good on his third try on fourth-and-goal with 9:47 left before halftime to snap a scoreless tie.

“We fought for it,” Lees said. “We got in the end zone, we got a nice early lead and got us some momentum and confidence.”

The Wildcats took their 7-0 lead into halftime, but not before they had to momentarily hold their breath when, in the closing seconds of the half, Lees scrambled and hurt his knee while being tackled. He limped around but refused to come to the sideline.

“I just rolled weird. It's fine,” Lees said of his knee. “My body went the opposite way that I wanted it to.”

The junior erased any doubts whether he was healthy when, on the first play from scrimmage of the second half, he busted off a 60-yard TD run.

“The kid is a quick kid. He's got moves,” Addison Trail safety Matt Gontarek said. “All week we've been subbing in different guys for quarterback — our best athletes, our quickest guys — and during practice we were doing everything right. We were stopping our guys. We were stopping (Lees) too, but he had some big runs.”

John Lubenow's 22-yard field goal hiked the Wildcats' lead to 17-0 with 5:21 left in the third. Libertyville's defense kept the heat on Zygowicz, but the 6-2 junior engineered an 11-play, 49-yard drive that Malik Pierre-Louis capped with a 1-yard run with 6:14 to go in the fourth.

Libertyville then fumbled the ball away on its next two possessions. Eric Gilliam recovered the second one at the Libertyville 49, and with Gontarek replacing the injured Zygowicz (ribs), the Blazers moved the ball to the 13 thanks to a pass interference penalty on fourth-and-goal from the 13.

On the next play, Gontarek was stopped at the 1 with 57 seconds left.

“We played square to the line of scrimmage,” Libertyville coach Mike Jones said of his team's run defense, while also noting the play of linebacker Aleks Dragin. “We didn't over-penetrate. There was really no place to run (for Addison Trail).”

Before this season, Libertyville had won only three playoff games since winning Class 7A in 2004.

“It's like euphoria,” McInerney said. “I can't believe it's happening.”

Images: Libertyville vs. Addison Trail football

  Libertyville quarterback Riley Lees, middle, celebrates his 60-yard touchdown run with teammate Nick Rosetti during the the third quarter of Saturday's Class 7A football playoff game against Addison Trail. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Libertyville quarterback Riley Lees, middle, leaps past Addison Trail's Anthony Metallo during Class 7A football playoff action Saturday. At left is Tim Calamari of the Wildcats. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Libertyville quarterback Riley Lees gets past Addison Trail's Eric Gilliam during Class 7A playoff action Saturday in Libertyville. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Libertyville's Brian Murphy grabs an interception in front of Addison Trail's Darrion Conrad during the fourth quarter of Saturday's Class 7A playoff matchup in Libertyville. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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