Bears Tame Wildcats, 31-6

Once again, defense pointed their offense in the right direction. In the Bears’ 31-6 win over Libertyville Friday night, the two teams played a scoreless first quarter and stayed out of the end zone until almost midway through the second half before Lake Zurich scored on a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Zach Till.

In fact, the first 18 minutes of the game were somewhat sloppy by both teams on both sides of the football, as passes were overthrown, coverage was blown and signals were missed. It’s a good thing for Lake Zurich that the Wildcats were playing as out-of sync as they were or they could have dug themselves into a hole.

Throughout this scoreless period, the Bears’ defense kept the pressure on Libertyville’s offense, which made some advances downfield but were unable to come away with any points. The Wildcats’ opening drive started on their own 23-yard line and ended on the Bears’ 41, netting them 36 yards. But after William Hussey stopped running back Joey Salata on third-and-four, Libertyville was forced to punt.

Towards the end of the first quarter, Libertyville was driving again after starting at midfield. Quarterback Jack Deichl hit Sam Styler for 10 yards on a critical play, and then connected with Pat Morgan. But Morgan fumbled on the left sideline, and Christopher Lehtinen recovered at the Bears’ 5-yard line.

Lake Zurich’s offense couldn’t do much on the ensuing possession and punted the ball back to the Wildcats. But the Bears got the ball back a few minutes later when Libertyville coughed up the ball a second time. The Bears’ offense seemed to be stalling again, facing a third-and-26 situation when quarterback Zach Till hit Mike Rantis on short pass that turned into a 67-yard gainer. Two 4-yard runs by Till finally put the Bears on the board, 7-0.

“I got a good read from their safety and just saw where I could put the ball,” said Till about his pass to Rantis. “It worked out where there was an opening and it turned out well.”

Once the Bears finally broke through, their rate of efficiency on offense skyrocketed. After Libertyville went three-and-out on their next possession, Lake Zurich started with tremendous field position, as John Orlando returned the ball to the Wildcats’ 9-yard line following a short punt. On second down, Till went into the end zone on a quarterback sneak.

After yet another three-and-out by the Wildcats, Lake Zurich drove downfield for a field goal and a 17-0 lead. After Till connected with Jake Stauner, he ran the ball 8 yards, and then found John Orlando open. After Orlando was dragged down at the Wildcats' 24-yard line, Till hit Grant Soucy with an 11-yard screen, moving the ball to the 12-yard line. After a tipped pass in the end zone, Mike Leiva put it through the uprights, good for a 21-yard field goal.

After Lake Zurich punted the ball to Libertyville early in the third quarter, the Wildcats finally executed a sustained drive for a touchdown. The big play was Deichl’s 19-yard completion to Styler. After offsetting penalties against both teams were called — much to the displeasure of  Bears coach Bryan Stortz — Joey Salata ran the ball for 7 yards on third-and-one. Deichl hit Styler in the end zone on a 9-yard pass several plays later. After missing the extra point, Libertyville trailed the Bears, 17-6 with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Lake Zurich answered right back, however, and put the game out of reach from the Wildcats once and for all. After starting out on their own 20-yard line following a touchback, Till connected with Stauner for 26 yards. Connor Schrader, after gaining 11 yards, fumbled on the next play, giving the Wildcats the ball at the 35-yard line. But Libertyville fumbled the ball on their first play from scrimmage, and the Bears recovered. Schrader eventually ran the ball in from the 1-yard line and a 24-6 lead.

Things quieted down during most of the fourth quarter, until Mike Shield, who was fairly quiet on offense throughout the night, burst through Libertyville's defensive line and motored down the right sideline for a 53-yard score.

“I was hungry,” said Shield after the game. “I wanted that badly. I was doing fine on defense. But on offense, not much had happened until that play. We were working some new packages in this week, and part of that has to do with controlling the edges more.”

Shield also admitted he was additionally motivated after being hit with a defensive penalty earlier in the game.

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t real happy about that. I didn’t see it the way it ended up being called.”

Undoubtedly, Shield will have the luxury of replaying his touchdown run over in his head instead of his penalty.

Bears Pause: Zach Till had another solid passing game against Libertyville, going 10-for-18 and 164 yards. Connor Schrader did more of the heavy lifting on the ground attack, rushing for 57 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Mike Shield had just two carries for 58 yards and a touchdown. John Orlando caught four passes for 32 yards, and Mike Rantis caught two passes for 75 yards. The Bears' air and ground games were very balanced: 164 passing yards and 157 rushing yards. Lake Zurich outgained Libertyville 321-183 in total yards.

Next Up: The Bears travel to Lincolnshire next Thursday to play Stevenson in that school’s homecoming game. The starting time is 7:00 p.m., a half hour earlier than usual.