Friday Night Preview: Lake Zurich Looking To Stretch Out Warren's Spread Offense

After losing to Cary-Grove last week, the Bears can look forward to hosting a team that is 0-2 and experiencing extreme transitional pains because of their coach's implementation of a drastically different offensive formation.

Welcome to Mel Eide Field, Warren Blue Devils.

Warren coach Dave Mohapp decided to switch from a more running-oriented I-formation to a pro-style spread offense this season, something that is gaining in popularity in prep football.

One of the attractions of using a spread offense is that it more closely resembles collegiate and professional styles of play, with a more diversified, multidimensional playbook. But if a coach doesn’t have the offensive players to pull it off, it potentially can make for a long and frustrating season.

That might be part of Warren’s problem; in their first two games this year they’ve been outscored 61-19 by their opponents, losing to mighty Maine South 40-12 on the road and then 21-7 to New Trier in their home opener. Losing the home debut this year was especially painful, as it was the Blue Devils' first game played on their new state-of-the-art artificial turf field.

The Blue Devils had better get their act together quickly or they could be vying with Zion-Benton for doormat honors in the Class 7A division. In their loss to the Trevians, Warren committed four fumbles and had a total of five turnovers. They also perpetrated a 25-yard loss on a wayward shotgun snap and committed numerous penalties.

“We’ve got to fix some things here,” said Mohapp. “We never were able to get into a rhythm against New Trier.”

Rhythm can be the elusive component when employing a sophisticated formation like the spread. If it can be successfully executed by a team, it can cause fits for an opposing team’s defense. But the flip side is that if it doesn’t coalesce successfully, an opponent’s defense can pick it apart.

The Bears’ defense very likely could fall in the latter category when they play the Blue Devils on Friday. While New Trier’s defense is decent, it's hardly the powerhouse that 's is. That could mean a long night for the Blue Devils against the Bears.

Warren has a solid quarterback in junior Adam Reuss, who had almost identical games against Maine South (14-27-125-1) and New Trier (11-25-127-1). Reuss, who definitely has some gunslinger tendencies, will continue to get plenty of opportunities to show off his big arm with Mohapp’s revamped offense.

Reuss’ favorite — almost exclusive — target is receiver Connor Iwema, who caught five passes for 81 yards against Maine South and the same number for 58 yards against New Trier. ’s Jack Lynn, Chris Rantis, Grant Soucy and company will have to be cautious that Reuss and Iwema don’t burn them for big gains.

On the other hand, since so much of Warren’s offense is predicated on Reuss-to-Iwema passing plays, the Bears’ defense shouldn’t have too much trouble zeroing in on the pair. It’s because of the Blue Devils' predictability on offense that the Trevians were able to induce five turnovers.

Expect to play with an extra edge this week as they make amends for last week’s upset defeat to Cary-Grove. “We’ll come out next week and play -style football,” said running back Mike Shield after last week’s loss, which sounded like both a threat and a promise.

The Bears offense will feel a lot less pressure against Warren’s defense than they did last week against Cary-Grove’s swarming d-line and backfield. Whether quarterback Zach Till is able to make his first start after suffering a sprained ankle prior to the season opener, or Steven Kuhn fills in again, the air and ground games should be restored to the more balanced attack that they were two weeks ago versus Fremd. That also should mean more yards for Shield, as well as for fellow running back Connor Schrader.

In last year’s contest in October, the Bears shut out the Blue Devils 14-0. Jacob Brinlee rushed for 105 yards on 12 carries, Mike Shield ran for 86 yards on 16 carries, and J.J. Raffelson recorded five sacks, including one particularly jarring blow to quarterback Bob Boesch.