Look who's smiling now

As junior Joshua Vravick was talking to a couple of reporters by the entrance to Stevenson's locker room, one exiting teammate jokingly told him he'd take him out to lunch if he got his name in the newspaper.

Several other happy Patriots, who were also piling out and headed who knows where on a sunny homecoming afternoon in Lincolnshire, laughed loudly and continued to razz their teammate, who was one of the heroes Saturday.

The laughter presented quite a change from the first three weeks of the season, when Stevenson had little to smile about. The Patriots were winless and staring at the possibility of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1988.

Now, head coach Bill Mitz's team has won three in a row and might be playing as well as any squad in the North Suburban Conference.

The Patriots' 49-6 pounding of North Chicago in an NSC crossover provided plenty of highlights.

Stevenson (3-3) had 5 interceptions, including 2 by Scott Diamond, limited North Chicago (3-3) to minus-7 rushing yards and rushed for 232 yards itself. Sophomore Mark Weisman carried 25 times for 112 yards, and Kevin Moffat rushed 13 times for 87 yards. Both Weisman and Moffat had a pair of touchdowns.

Ian Harris was perfect on PAT kicks, going 7 of 7.

"Coach Mitz loves to run," said 6-foot-6, 310-pound Ben Samson, part of an offensive line that includes Ryan Urbon, Peter Bulandr, Thomas Munger, Jason Douglas and Aren Boz.

"We like to barrel it in, we like to (run) first, second down, maybe throw it on third down. I think we're stronger now. At the beginning of the season we played those good teams (Loyola, Glenbrook South, Lake Zurich). We definitely have improved. We just got to keep (digging) in and win these last three games."

Stevenson's running game flourished despite missing Steven Haynes and Geoffrey Matthews.

Haynes missed his second straight game with a shoulder injury and said he's questionable for next Saturday's battle at Lake Forest. Matthews was hurt Opening Night, had knee surgery, then returned last week against Mundelein. An infection to his knee sidelined him against North Chicago, but he said he expects to play against Lake Forest.

In their place, Weisman, who didn't start the season on varsity, has stepped up. The 5-11, 200-pounder scored on a 1-yard dive to break a scoreless tie early in the second quarter.

"He listens, he's easy to talk to in the huddle, and he gets it done," Samson said. "Moffat played a heck of a game (too)."

Vravick put Stevenson up two scores when he picked off Warhawks quarterback Blake Collins and returned the ball 23 yards into the end zone. Matt Harris and Brad Backer also had interceptions for the Patriots, who have scored 128 points in their last three games.

"During the whole season it's always one of our goals to score a defensive touchdown, and we hadn't had one all year," Vravick said. "So it was big for us."

And, yes, he credited some of his teammates.

"(Jarrid) Puzes gave me some good blocks -- (Kevin) Barberio and (Lucas) Peilet did, too," Vravick said.

Jimon Hill returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for North Chicago's only score, but an 18-yard TD run by Moffat had Stevenson up 21-6 at halftime.

The Patriots' second-half scores included a 7-yard pass from Zach Wujcik to Max Juster and a 17-yard run by Mike Baranowski.

North Chicago, which didn't have starting quarterback DeShawn Chambliss (groin), played six guys on both sides of the ball. The Warhawks have only eight seniors.

"Maybe we did get worn down a little bit," coach Mike Grenda said. "But I think we could have played a better game."