Bazar, Libertyville rush past Mundelein
Talk about going into beast mode.
He'll down play it and is quick to credit the offensive line, but truth be told Libertyville junior running back Brendan Bazar wasn't messing around on Friday night when the Cats traveled a couple of miles west to face North Suburban football rival Mundelein.
"Coaches have been telling us all week it's a three-game season now," said Bazar, who rumbled for a season-high 230 yards on 20 carries in helping lead Libertyville to a 28-0 victory on Pink-Out night in Mundelein.
"We're trying to be one-dimensional and run the ball," Bazar said. "I got tripped up a couple of times but the offensive line was awesome tonight."
After a state runner-up finish a year ago, Libertyville has been fighting tooth and nail this season. Friday's victory erased a 2-game skid to improve the team's record 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the NSC and keep playoff aspirations fully intact.
"We try and not dwell on last year," said Bazar, who scored 2 touchdowns on the evening to raise his total to 7 for the year. "We know we have a pretty good team and we're just taking it one game at a time."
Mundelein (2-5, 1-4) has been playing some very spirited football this season and it certainly showed in the first quarter.
Libertyville had taken the opening kickoff and marched eight plays down to the Mustangs' red zone, only to come away empty after a missed 25-yard field goal attempt. Bazar dashed for 55 yards on the drive.
Mundelein then went three-and-out, but senior Lucas Zepeda recovered a fumble after the Cats mishandled the ensuing punt. That led to the Mustangs' deepest penetration of the evening when it got down to Libertyville's 30.
However junior defensive back Spencer Sweeney picked off an Anthony Norris pass to end the drive.
From there, it was just like dangling a carrot because you just had the feeling Libertyville - in particular Bazar - was going to break a big one and take it to the house.
And sure enough, Bazar raced 46 yards to break the ice and put the Cats ahead 7-0 with 5:19 left in the second quarter.
Then, a minute later, senior wideout Brandon Rule got into the action by hauling in a 59-yard scoring strike from senior quarterback Jack Ruskell to give Libertyville some breathing room at 14-0 heading into the locker room.
"It was nice getting back out there," said Rule, who tore the MCL in his right knee the second game of the season and hasn't played since. "I feel I'm getting stronger and stronger."
Rule also caught a 35-yard scoring strike from Ruskell to give Libertyville a 21-0 lead with 5:58 left in the third. He finished with 2 catches for 94 yards and the two scores.
Bazar then finished off his stellar evening by galloping 41 yards to the house for the Cats final tally of the contest.
Junior tailback Isaiah Wellman provided a spark for the Mustangs, dashing 57 yards on 8 carries.
The Libertyville defense forced four Mundelein turnovers and held leading rusher - senior tailback Aaron Woolford - to just 35 yards on 12 tough carries.
The Mustangs also got some potential bad news when sophomore wideout Nik Fisher suffered what was initially thought to be a broken wrist.