Lake Zurich passes up Lake Forest in second half

Blame it on Thursday night football.

Unbeaten and favored Lake Zurich led only 10-0 at Lake Forest at halftime of their North Suburban Conference matchup.

Eventually, though, the Bears were too much for the Scouts.

Quarterback Evan Lewandowski completed 27 of 50 passing for 292 yards, leading a second-half blitz with 2 TD passes as Lake Zurich prevailed 27-0.

Give the Scouts credit - they largely shut down the LZ running game, holding Joey Stutzman to 56 yards on 18 carries.

After the first quarter, the Bears led 3-0 on a 38-yard field goal by Donnie Dawson.

That was still the score late in the second quarter when Lewandowski found Matthijs Enters on an 8-yard scoring pass with 2:07 left before halftime.

Lake Forest missed a short field goal just before the end of the half.

Lewandowski opened the third quarter by completing four straight passes before hitting Enters on a 14-yard score to make it 17-0.

With three minutes left in the third quarter, Dawson converted a 40-yard field goal.

With 1:53 left, Lewandowski hit Trenton Burkley on a 16-yard scoring toss for the final scoreboard change.

The defense was solid all night for the Bears and showed a knack for big plays, as Austin LePage came up with an interception and Jack Sanborn came up with a punt block to set up that final Lake Zurich score.

Lake Zurich (6-0, 4-0) faces a tough road test next Friday against Stevenson.

Lake Forest (2-4, 0-4) is also on the road, against Zion-Benton, in Week 7.