Monster finish helps Stevenson past Mundelein
An early case of Jekyll and Hyde found Stevenson's football team.
Fortunately for the Patriots, the returning signal-caller Grayson Kubow and tailback JeanMarc Etienne provided the perfect elixir against visiting Mundelein.
Kubow completed 17 of 26 passing for 240 yards and three scores, while the tailback churned 119 yards on 14 carries with a pair of first half scores as Stevenson (3-1, 2-0) overcame an early deficit with 35 unanswered points in a 35-7 rout of the Mustangs in North Suburban Conference play.
"I don't know what was wrong with us, but we definitely came out sluggish," said Kubow. "JeanMarc was the one who brought us out and made some great runs. Without him and the offensive line, it would've been a different game.
"We talked amongst ourselves at halftime and came out with a little more energy and fire power, and blew it open in the second half."
Mundelein (1-3, 0-2) appeared ready and willing to spoil the Patriots' homecoming party from the opening kick.
The Mustangs picked up the first of three recovered Stevenson fumbles on the night during Stevenson's second possession, and quarterback Anthony Norris only needed two plays to find the end-zone with a 44-yard dart to a streaking Isaiah Wellman for the game's first points.
A sluggish start for Stevenson shifted in the special teams with a 34-yard punt return from Terrance Fisher, followed by Etienne's 21-yard burst to paydirt to knot the game late in the opening stanza.
Mundelein made its second break of the game with a fumble on punt coverage and pushed the chains back into Patriot territory, but Maema Njongmeta delivered his second monster sack of the game to prompt a punt.
Stevenson rallied. Consecutive first down strikes from Kubow to Alex Capstick and Tyler Porzycki, respectively, placed the Pats at midfield.
Etienne delivered again with a 51-yard scoring run to make it a 14-7 game at the break.
"We came out a little bit flat, but we knew as the game went on we had to have more energy and I tried to do what's best for the team," said Etienne. "The line did an amazing job. The holes were huge, and I was able to do my job."
Kubow took command in the second half.
On Stevenson's first third quarter possession, the quarterback found Capstick with a 52-yard connection, and then touched Fisher with a toss of 36 for the score.
A Travis Bronstein interception at the Mustangs' 25 and a targeting penalty spelled doom for the visitors as Kubow quickly landed a 14-yard scoring strike to Kapstick for the 28-7 lead entering the fourth.
Stevenson put the icing on the cake in the fourth quarter with Porzycki and Etienne making big plays in the passing game to set up Kubow with a 25-yard throw to Connor Friesen for the score.
"There were a lot of distractions," said Stevenson coach Josh Hjorth. "It's homecoming week and they were worried about who's going where and which prom outfit they're going to wear.
"We talked at halftime and said, 'We need to buckle down and get after it.' The kids woke up a little bit and we did a pretty good job in the second half."
Stevenson finished the game with 400 total yards of offense, whereas its defense forced 7 punts on the night and tallied a pair of interceptions via Bronstein and Bien Buan.
Norris finished 9 of 23 for 97 yards with the pair of picks for Mundelein, which totaled 65 yards collectively on the ground.
The Mustangs will look to rebound at home against Waukegan next Friday, while the Patriots travel to Zion-Benton.