It's defensive payback as Stevenson blanks Lake Zurich
For years, Lake Zurich was the defensive guru of the North Suburban Conference.
No team was consistently stingier with points and yardage allowed.
But on Thursday night, the Bears got a taste of their own medicine.
Visiting Stevenson came in and did a defensive number on Lake Zurich, leaving town with a 21-0 North Suburban Lake Division victory. Not only did the Patriots get their second shutout of the season, they also held Lake Zurich to just 72 yards of total offense and forced 2 turnovers.
With the victory, the Patriots remain unbeaten on the season at 6-0 and 3-0 in Lake play. Lake Zurich falls to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the division and must win its remaining three games to qualify for the playoffs as an at-large team.
“We were just flying around and having fun,” said Stevenson senior linebacker Jason Vravick, who was in on a couple of sacks. “It was a big element in practice, a big emphasis just to fly around from the beginning and to keep making plays.
“They have a lot of threats, a lot of good runners, but it was really who wants it more. It was a four-quarter game for all of us, which was great to see.”
Stevenson set the defensive tone early when Aaron Lund intercepted a pass by Lake Zurich quarterback Joey Lindstrom and ran it in 23 yards for a touchdown.
That gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead with 4:18 left in the first quarter.
“What a big play and what was great is that Aaron knew what to do with it,” Stevenson coach Bill McNamara said of the pick-6. “We always talk about trying to get defensive scores, and when we get one, it's always exciting for our team.”
The Stevenson offense got on the board midway through the second quarter when quarterback Willie Bourbon found Cameron Green in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass.
Yet, Lake Zurich was able to go into the halftime locker room with a bit of optimism. Despite being down 14-0 and managing only 58 first-half yards, the Bears put up a big goal-line stand that prevented yet another Stevenson score.
The Patriots had a first-and-goal at the Lake Zurich 1-yard line with about a minute to play before halftime. But the Bears held on three straight plays and then blocked a field goal attempt.
“Yes, we played well in certain parts of the game and some of our kids played very hard,” Lake coach David Proffitt said. “But when your (defense) is on the field for as long as we were, you eventually just (wear out).”
The Lake Zurich offense had just two drives that lasted more than two minutes. The Bears just couldn't move the chains, and that sent the defense back on the field.
“A lot of three-and-outs, three-and-outs, three-and-outs,” Proffitt said. “We took a step backwards. I was very surprised. I was under the impression that our offense was ready to go and that we were going to do some damage. But offensively, we didn't do anything and I give (Stevenson) all the credit in the world.”
Offensively for Stevenson, Bourbon completed 18-of-26 passes for 184 yards. His top target was Jack Sorenson, who hauled in 7 passes for 85 yards.
Running back Tyler Vincent scored an insurance touchdown for Stevenson with 2:12 left in the game on a 1-yard run.