Cedzidlo takes Lakes to another victory
Devyn Cedzidlo missed three days of school last week and Lakes' football game against Woodstock North.
Friday night in rainy Fox Lake, the junior didn't miss his opportunity to make an immediate impact in the North Suburban Prairie Division opener between the Eagles and host Grant.
The Bulldogs muffed the opening kickoff, and Cedzidlo recovered at the 11. Two plays later from the 1, Cedzidlo scored the first of his 3 rushing touchdowns. Lakes never looked back en route to a 52-6 win that hiked the Eagles' record to 3-0.
Grant fell to 0-3.
"I don't think you can ask for a better start to a game than that," Lakes coach Luke Mertens said.
"There was a bug going around (school last week)," Cedzidlo said. "I couldn't wait to get out there (on the football field) and show everybody what I got."
Cedzidlo showed off a lot of the skills that could make him one of the top running backs in the county this season. His 15-yard TD run had the Eagles up 24-0 at halftime.
He then opened the third-quarter scoring with an electrifying 44-yard touchdown run. He made a spin move near the sideline before emerging from a host a defenders and racing into the end zone.
"I don't even know how I did it," Cedzidlo said. "So I'm just going to have to give that one to my teammates and my linemen. I got carried by Ryan Mullen like 3-4 yards. Then I noticed I wasn't going out of bounds so I had to cut up the field, and then I was in the end zone."
Cedzidlo ran behind the Miami Ohio-bound Mullen, Steve McVicker, Chris Diaguila, Austin Summers, Zach Lahr and tight end Zach Fuller. Cedzidlo finished with 117 rushing yards on 11 carries.
"We missed him last week," said wide receiver Jake Balliu, who added a pair of touchdowns. "He's a great player, does what he needs to do. He went out and ran hard. It was just good to have him back."
On its first possession, following a 43-yard kickoff return by Ben Schram, Grant marched 37 yards on nine plays to the Lakes 12. But the Bulldogs' drive stalled there. Lakes responded with a 7-play scoring drive, which Balliu capped with a 45-yard TD run, breaking tackles along the way. Cody Brumm's 29-yard field goal, which was part of his 10-point night (7 of 7 on PAT kicks), extended Lakes' lead to 17-0 early in the second quarter.
Leading 31-0 in the third, Lakes got a defensive score when linebacker Jeremy Sasser scooped up a fumbled lateral and raced 35 yards into the end zone.
The Eagles' defensive effort also included Ethan Sage's interception and fumble recovery.
"I thought it was a great team victory," Mertens said. "I was very happy with our defense's response. Last week our defense didn't have its best game, and we knew we were playing a (Grant) team that can really run the ball. We challenged our defense. We said, 'Guys, we got to able to stop the run to be able to compete in this conference.' "
Grant averted a shutout when John Bettis busted off a 39-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Lakes responded with a 15-yard TD pass from Jordan Mercure to Balliu and a 1-yard touchdown run from Izayah James (11 carries, 86 yards).
Grant got interceptions from Mikel Graves and Jonathan Lumber.