Bears Ground Eagles in 28-0 Romp

The Bears were off and running against Lakes Community High School on their opening drive. Little did anyone know that by game’s end, they would also break a passing record, as John Orlando’s 135 receiving yards broke Jacob Brinlee’s school record of 118, set in 2008.

“We came out and decided we’d play based on what their defense gave us,” said Bears quarterback Zach Till, who had a total of 271 combined yards passing and rushing. “Our offensive line did a great job for us tonight, and everything just fell into place.”

started the game by marching the ball down the field 83 yards on eight running plays. After John Orlando returned the opening kickoff to the 17-yard line, Mike Shield ran the ball up the middle for 13 yards. Mike Rantis followed with a 9-yard carry after which Jake Stauner — helping out with the ground and air attack while a banged-up Connor Schrader took the night off — rushed for 13 yards. Shield then ran the ball in from 9 yards out for the first Bears score.

After a three-and-out by Lakes, Lake Zurich went right back to work, starting again deep in their own territory on the 15-yard line. Rantis ran for 14 yards on the first play, and after a 3-yard carry by Stauner, Zach Till went airborne for the first time, connecting with John Orlando for a 14-yard completion. Till then found an opening for a 25-yard run to the Eagles' 39-yard line.

Lakes had a lot of trouble defending against the Bears' running game all night, which allowed Till to start mixing increasingly more passes as the night progressed. “We just kept adjusting our offensive plan to their defense,” he said.

After another 7-yard gainer by Till, he connected again with Orlando on a perfectly executed pass-and-run 12-yard play. Till then ran up the middle for 19 yards, just missing the end zone, to the 1-yard line. After a pitch by Till to Shield resulted in a loss of three yards, Shield ran the ball for 3 yards before cracking the end zone on a 1-yard carry. After the extra point, the Bears led 14-0.

The Eagles couldn’t get any traction with their offense, going three-and-out again on their second possession. After Till was picked off by defensive back Levi Haymaker at the Eagles' 30-yard line, they once again punted the ball back to Lake Zurich without getting a first down.

In fact, the Bears would score their third touchdown before Lakes had made even one first down. Later in the second quarter, Lake Zurich, starting at their own 27-yard line, put together another scoring drive, ignited by Stauner’s 13-yarder up the middle. Several plays later, Till looped a high-arching pass to Orlando along the right sideline for a 54-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead.

“He was really on tonight, and made it easy for me,” said Orlando. “I just looked up and the ball was there.”

The Eagles finally got a first down on their next possession, but were still unable to sustain any real offensive threat. After Lakes punted the ball back, the Bears started their fourth and final scoring drive at their 46-yard line. Mike Shield got things going with a 22-yard gain along the left sideline before being shoved out of bounds. After a pass interference penalty against the Eagles gave the Bears another 15 yards, Till threw a nice cross-pattern on the run, hitting Orlando as he moved to the left side of the field for a 19-yard touchdown and a 28-0 Bears lead with 0:21 left on the clock before halftime.

With all of the scoring occurring in the first half, the last two quarters were a lot quieter than the first two. While Shield continued to add to his rushing yards and Till tacked on additional yardage to his air and ground game, the Bears mounted only one more serious scoring threat, highlighted by Orlando’s 34-yard reception with a little over four minutes left in the game, putting Lake Zurich on the Eagles' 16-yard line. But on the next play, Till lost the handle on the ball and Lakes recovered the fumble. After Hoffman connected on a long pass to Justin Bergeron, the Eagles made it down to the Bears’ 10-yard line. But after Jack Lynn sacked Hoffman for an 11-yard loss, a field goal with 2:37 was wide right, depriving Lakes of their only opportunity to avert a shutout.

Bears Pause: The Bears rolled up 352 yards on offense in the first half alone. Mike Shield rushed for 120 yards on 16 carries, scoring two touchdowns. Zach Till had 17 carries for 102 yards, and was 9-for-12 passing for 169 yards with a pair of touchdowns and one pick. His passing yards were the third-highest ever in school history. Brinlee’s old record of 118 yards in 2008 was on just two receptions. He achieved it against Warren.

Lakes had 176 total offensive yards on the night with just seven first downs.

Next Up: The Bears travel to Mundelein for the first of three straight road games.