Scouting Lake Zurich at North Chicago

Lake Zurich (2-0) at North Chicago (0-2)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Lake Zurich def. Cary-Grove, 10-3; North Chicago lost to Maine West, 14-6.

Outlook: At this time last season, the North Chicago Warhawks were grounded, and talk around the North Suburban Conference and through state was about a bench-clearing brawl at North Chicago. In Week 2 of the 2009 season, North Chicago and visiting Simeon were involved in an ugly on-field incident that resulted in the game being called early and both teams incurring suspensions for subsequent games. "Our kids really want to erase that image people have of us from that," North Chicago coach Glen Kozlowski said. "And they've really been working at it. They want to do well, they want to succeed and they've been doing the best they can to do that."-North Chicago has gotten off to a tough start in the wins and losses department, but Kozlowski says that his team is much improved in so many ways from last year, including its on-field abilities. "Our (56-12) loss to Marian (in the season opener) was a lot closer than the final score would indicate, and last week against Maine West, we had a chance on the last play of the game to get the ball in the end zone. We are a lot better."-The Warhawks have big-play potential with backs Keenan Handy and Daryle Pearson and quarterback Jermaine Garrett. But the biggest improvement for North Chicago so far is on defense. Senior lineman Courtney Turney has a whopping 12 sacks in 2 games and is so big (6-foot-5, 230 pounds) and fast that he is "unblockable," according to Kozlowski. This is Turney's first year of playing football because he was ineligible last year. "He's a football player," Kozlowski said. "He's really helped us out there. We've put our defense in some tough spots, but those guys have been stout and they don't give up."-The Warhawks will be put to the test again by a Lake Zurich offense that doesn't score a lot of points (15 ppg), but can be powerful at times behind the shifty and gritty running of senior Jacob Brinlee. Brinlee ran for 167 yards on 18 carries last week against Cary-Grove and scored the winning touchdown on a 65-yard scamper. Lake Zurich enters its conference schedule having defeated a defending state champion (Cary-Grove, Class 6A) and a Fremd team that went 11-1 last season. "Lake Zurich has built an impressive program," Kozlowski said. "They're the real deal. They're fast, strong. They're well-coached. This will be a big test for us."