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Libertyville wraps up Lake title vs. Mundelein

It was definitely another impressive performance by the Libertyville football team Friday night at Mundelein.

The undefeated Wildcats roared to a commanding 27-0 lead after one quarter, and they never looked back as they led 34-0 at halftime before capturing a 34-7 North Suburban Conference victory over the Mustangs.

Libertyville (8-0 overall) completed a 6-0 run against its NSC Lake Division foes, and the Wildcats hope to put the finishing touches on a perfect regular season when they host Lakes next weekend.

Mundelein fell to 4-4 overall and 1-4 in the Lake Division. The Mustangs will need to defeat visiting Stevenson in their final game of the regular season next weekend and hope to have enough points to qualify for the state playoffs with a 5-4 record.

The Wildcats got rolling offensively right out of the blocks Friday as senior quarterback Riley Lees (136 yards on 5 carries) led Libertyville on an eight-play, 56-yard scoring drive.

Senior Ben Freedman caught a deflected pass off of a Mundelein defensive back for a 12-yard gain to put the ball on the Mustangs' 2-yard-line.

Two plays later, Libertyville senior running back Noah Moderwell (42 yards on 10 rushes) plowed his way into the end zone from 2 yards out for the touchdown. The extra point boot by Luke Uransel gave the Wildcats a 7-0 lead just 2:44 into the opening quarter.

Fumbles proved to be a real Achilles' heel for Mundelein in the first half as running back Aaron Woolford lost a fumble to Dan Scheunemann on the Mustangs first possession.

Mundelein lost all four of its first 4 fumbles to the opportunistic Libertyville defense. The Mustangs lost five of its seven fumbles overall despite the dry, cool playing conditions which would not normally result on so many turnovers.

Mundelein quarterback Colten Fisher (63 yards on 22 carries) lost a fumble to Nick Neumann on the Mustangs second offensive series.

This time, the Wildcats would take advantage of the miscue as they took over at the Mundelein 36. Two plays later, Lees scored on a 26-yard TD run, breaking numerous tackles on the way for a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

A four-and-out gave the ball back to Libertyville in good field position at its own 43-yard-line.

A 20-yard keeper by the elusive Lees got the drive going before Lees (3-for-10, 59 yards passing) hit senior teammate Henry Schmidt with a high-arching, 37-yard TD pass to boost the lead to 21-0 with 3:08 left in the first quarter.

With the Mustangs unable to mount much offense in the early going, Lees struck again on the Wildcats' next possession.

It only took three plays, but Lees weaved through traffic and went 67 yards for the touchdown down the right sideline to give the Wildcats a 27-0 lead as time expired in the first quarter. A missed extra point kept the score at 27-0.

"It's not a secret anymore, (Libertyville is) one of the best in the state and they're quarterback is a very special player," said Mundelein coach Larry Calhoun. "We're just trying to play better football right now. We're still a work in progress, but you can't lay the football down five times."

The Wildcats' aggressive defense really paid off in the second quarter. Senior Ben Kimpler forced a fumble by Fisher before Libertyville teammate Riley Buncic scooped up the ball and raced 18 yard for the TD and a commanding 34-0 lead with exactly seven minutes left in the first half.

After building the big lead, Lees only played the first quarter with junior Jack Ruskell and senior Mike Schaffer playing under center the rest of the way.

"There is a lot of room for improvement, and we have higher expectations than we showed," said Lees. "We have to get momentum going into the playoffs, and I think we just have to cut down on the mental mistakes."

Libertyville used many reserves in the second half as the third quarter was scoreless.

The Mustangs were able to get on the scoreboard on a 16-yard TD run by Woolford (83 yards on 12 rushes) as Abram Nazario's extra point made the score 34-7 with 5:53 to play.

Mundelein's Jake Gokan had 32 yards on 6 carries while Libertyville's Jason Tse had 30 yards on 4 carries.

"It was good to be able to come out and start fast, that was huge," said Libertyville coach Mike Jones, whose team is trying to become the first undefeated Wildcats' squad since their 14-0 Class 7A state title team in 2004. "He (Lees) is a leader, he always answers the bell no matter what the game is, and he's a competitor."

"We've got to just keep trying to get better and be ready to go next week," added Jones. "Our defense has been that way all year. They play fast and the coaches do a great job of showing them how to create turnovers."

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