Lake Zurich steamrolls Zion-Benton

Friday the 13th can be some what of a taboo day where luck can go either way, depending on where you're beliefs lie.

For Lake Zurich, it didn't matter.

These guys, after two heartbreaking losses, were in need of a victory.

And they got it, a 45-0 thumping over Zion-Benton to ruin the Zee-Bees' home opener Friday night in Zion.

"I told the guys remember where you've come from," said LZ coach Ron Planz, who won his first game as Bears' head coach. "And now you have to sustain that for the rest of the season."

Lake Zurich scored on every possession in the game, including 6 touchdowns to start a running clock as it went to halftime ahead 42-0.

"We're getting better every game and that's all I can ask," added Planz, whose team moved to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the North Suburban Conference.

The ground and pound did the Bees in as Lake Zurich outgained them 375-146, including 290 on the ground.

Junior running back Jack Dwyer was a beast on this Friday evening.

After quarterback Jack Moses' 11-yard run opened the scoring, Dwyer went on a tear, scoring the next 3 touchdowns on runs of 50, 48, and 6 yards.

When Dwyer wasn't doing damage, Moses was.

With the score 28-0, Moses scored back-to-back touchdowns on runs of 15 and 14 yards in the second quarter.

The final scoring came on a 35-yard field goal by junior kicker Jack Rigby to make it 45-0 with 6:11 left in the third.

And as mentioned, the LZ defense held its own.

"Our defensive coaches took our first two losses pretty hard," noted Planz. "But they do a great job of coaching the fundamentals and the game of football."

The Bears held Zion-Benton star running back Jordan Chism to just 35 yards on 13 carries.

And on the opening drive of the game, senior defensive back Tyler Remez picked off an Eric Franklin pass that ultimately led to one of Dwyer's scores.

Senior defensive back Anthony Mangano also had a huge deflected pass when Zion (1-2) was driving in the first quarter.

The Bears also played a really clean game being flagged only twice for 15 yards.

The only negative was late in the game when junior defensive back Colin Fessenden took a hard hit and lay on his back for several minutes. They brought the stretcher out but Fessenden ended up walking off under his own power.