Scouting Lake County, Week 4
EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC CONFERENCECarmel Corsairs (1-2) at Nazareth Academy Roadrunners (2-1)When: 7:30 p.m., today
Last week: Carmel lost to Marist, 27-8; Nazareth lost to Notre Dame, 22-17.
Skinny: Carmel needs to find some offense. After scoring 24 points in a Week 1 win over Waukesha West (24-17), the Corsairs have mustered only 18 points over the last two games combined. Unfortunately for Carmel, Nazareth is the second-stingiest defense in the East Suburban Catholic. The Roadrunners have allowed only 34 points this season (11.3 ppg). Marian Central leads the conference in points allowed at just 14 (4.6 ppg) on the season…Nazareth is coming off a heart-breaking loss last week. Notre Dame scored the winning touchdown with 26 seconds left… Nazareth lost junior starting quarterback Zach Stevens to a left knee injury early in the fourth quarter.
CENTRAL SUBURBAN NORTHBuffalo Grove Bison (1-2) at Vernon Hills Cougars (2-1)When: 7:30 p.m., today
Last week: Buffalo Grove def. Deerfield, 21-7; Vernon Hills lost to Wheeling, 21-14.
Skinny: Backup quarterback Jack Himel stepped in for starter Kyle Hull last week and moved Vernon Hills well, but was out-dueled by Wheeling quarterback Jalen Dennis, who was a one-man wrecking crew and scored all three of the Wildcats' touchdowns. Dennis rolled up 196 rushing yards and passed for 158 yards as Wheeling out-gained Vernon Hills 422 yards to 169 yards…Himel completed 14-of-22 passes for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns to Chris Mariella (5 catches, 78 yards)…Buffalo Grove quarterback Connor Adams was on point last week. Against Deerfield, he completed 19-of-20 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown.
NORTH SUBURBAN CONFERENCELake Forest Scouts (2-1) at Warren Blue Devils (0-3)When: 7:30 p.m., today
Last week: Lake Forest lost to Stevenson, 43-12; Warren lost to Libertyville, 28-26.
Skinny: Warren desperately needs a win to stay playoff relevant for the rest of the season. The Blue Devils have had a brutal opening stretch against three opponents who are a combined 7-2…Warren, which allowed 322 Libertyville rushing yards, only partially capitalized on 3 Libertyville fumbles. One resulted in a 71-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Jake Lange…The Blue Devils split quarterback time last week between Luke Schmitt (5-of-12, 69 yards) and Ian Schilling (6-of-15, 58 yards)…Lake Forest took it on the chin at Stevenson for its first lost, down 23-6 by halftime. Quarterback Charles Reinkemeyer completed 10-of-23 passes for 189 yards.
Lake Zurich Bears (2-1) at Zion-Benton Zee-Bees (2-1)When: 7:30 p.m., today
Last week: Lake Zurich def. Waukegan, 42-0; Zion-Benton def. Mundelein, 56-21.
Skinny: Lake Zurich, which is trying to pass more this season in its new spread offense, looked like the Lake Zurich of old last week. The Bears ran all over Waukegan before enacting a running clock. Lake Zurich running back Joey Stutzman racked up 140 rushing yards himself, and scored 4 touchdowns. Quarterback Evan Lewandowski did complete 8-of-15 passes for 116 yards for the Bears…Zion-Benton has a waterbug of a running back like Stutzman in 5-foot-7 TJ Brister. He is averaging 144 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Zion-Benton quarterback senior Deandre Green is throwing for 130 yards a game. His favorite target is junior receiver Payton Powell.
Waukegan Bulldogs (1-2) at Libertyville Wildcats (2-1)When: 7:30 p.m., today
Last week: Waukegan lost to Lake Zurich, 42-0; Libertyville def. Warren, 28-26.
Skinny: The Wildcats may have used up one of their lives last week against Warren. Libertyville survived 3 fumbles and a furious Warren rally in the final moments to pull out a victory…Libertyville used a strong running game to control the clock, out-rushing Warren 322 yards to 127 yards. Brendan Bazar was a workhorse for the Wildcats. He finished with 202 rushing yards on 28 carries. He also scored 2 touchdowns. Jason Tse added 86 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries…Waukegan could never get its offense going last week against Lake Zurich. The Bulldogs also couldn't stop Lake Zurich's rushing game, which is bad news considering how effective Libertyville's ground attack was last week.
Stevenson Patriots (2-1) at Mundelein Mustangs (1-2)When: 7:30 p.m., today
Last week: Stevenson def. Lake Forest, 43-12; Mundelein lost to Zion-Benton, 56-21.
Skinny: A close-shave victory (38-35) in Michigan over perennial state power Muskegon two weeks ago, seemed to invigorate Stevenson. The Patriots put the hurt on Lake Forest last week, dominating through the air. Stevenson out-gained Lake Forest by more than 100 passing yards (326-189). Stevenson quarterback Aidan O'Connell completed 19-of-26 passes for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns…O'Connell has the luxury of having a stable full of speedy, sure-handed receivers. Against Lake Forest, three receivers put up big numbers: Anthony Sibo (9 catches, 91 yards), Henry Marchese (5 catches, 84 yards), Terrence Fisher (3 catches, 76 yards)…Mundelein played in its first lopsided game last week. The Mustangs' previous two games, a 32-26 loss to Larkin and a 17-14 win over Elgin were by a combined 9 points...Quarterback Anthony Norris completed 12-of-23 passes for 210 yards last week against Zion-Benton. He averages 127 passing yards per game. Mundelein was missing its usual big game from running back Aaron Woolford. He's averaging 83 rushing yards per game but got just 30 yards on 6 carries last week.
NORTHERN LAKE COUNTYGrant Bulldogs (1-2) at Antioch Sequoits (3-0)When: 7:15 p.m., today
Last week: Grant def. Grayslake Central, 35-13; Antioch def. Wauconda, 33-29.
Skinny: This should be a quick game as both Grant and Antioch love to run, run, run the ball. Antioch rushed for 285 yards and passed for only 32 yards on 4 attempts last week against Wauconda. Grant, meanwhile, did not attempt a pass in a win over Grayslake Central…Antioch's Branden/Brandon team of quarterback Branden Gallimore and running back Brandon Lind was a handful on the ground for Wauconda. Gallimore rushed for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns while Lind finished with 93 yards and 3 touchdowns…Grant's workhorse on the ground last week was three-headed. Drew Walker led the way with 206 yards and 4 touchdowns on 16 carries. Kenyon Jones had 151 yards on 26 carries and Diego Ortiz added 141 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries…Grant was without the services last week of starting sophomore quarterback Matt McGraw, who is still nursing a leg injury suffered last week in practice. He is day-to-day.
Round Lake Panthers (0-3) at Grayslake Central Rams (0-3)When: 7:15 p.m., today
Last week: Round Lake lost to North Chicago, 43-0; Grayslake Central lost to Grant, 35-13.
Skinny: It's going to happen. One of these struggling programs is going to get a win. Grayslake Central hasn't won a game since the 2013 season and is 0-21 in its last 21 games. Meanwhile, Round Lake won only one game (1-8) last season…Round Lake got blanked last week against North Chicago and has managed only 15 points this season. The Panthers will be looking for some offense out of quarterback Tabieas Young, who is a threat with his arm or his feet…Grayslake Central quarterback Sam Lennartz provided some bright spots last week in completing 7-of-12 passes for 76 yards against Grant. And Mikey Andrews was a workhorse, rushing 16 times for 69 yards.
North Chicago Warhawks (2-1) at Grayslake North (2-1)When: 7:15 p.m., today
Last week: North Chicago def. Round Lake, 43-0; Grayslake North lost to Lakes, 31-14.
Skinny: Grayslake North is looking to rebound from its first loss of the season. The Knights were averaging 27 points per game but got less than half of that last week against Lakes. Grayslake North had 3 turnovers against Lakes, 2 fumbles and an interception…The Knights did, however, get a big game out of running back Dami Oladunmoye, who was playing in his first game of the season. He had missed the first two weeks while recovering from an off-season injury. Oladunmoye had 144 yards on 26 carries…Grayslake North also used two quarterbacks, Hunter Ambre and Austin Martineau…North Chicago is coming off of two straight shutouts. The Warhawks blanked Robeson in Week 2, 41-0.
Lakes Eagles (1-2) at Wauconda Bulldogs (1-2)When: 7:15 p.m., today
Last week: Lakes def. Grayslake North, 31-14; Wauconda lost to Antioch, 33-29.
Skinny: Lakes opened with two tough opponents in Deerfield and Highland Park (a combined 5-1) and was able to finally rebound from that 0-2 start with last week's win. The Eagles, who rolled up 335 yards of offense, got off to a great start and were up 24-7 at halftime…Quarterback Brandon Khan completed 8-of-9 passes for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also ran in a touchdown. Running back Cameron Ruiz finished with 75 yards on 20 carries…Wauconda is hurting from a loss last week in which its furious fourth-quarter rally fell just short. The Bulldogs were trailing Antioch 26-7 after three quarters and scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to push Antioch to the brink…Wauconda did its most damage on the ground, rolling up 293 rushing yards there. Running back Tyler Stankiewicz finished with 165 yards on 18 carries. The Bulldogs were without starting quarterback Antonio Acosta, who went down with an ankle injury in a Week 2 loss to Riverside-Brookfield.