LZ's 'D' simply gets the job done

During an 11-on-11 drill in practice this week, on a vast field behind Lake Zurich's field house with that "Bear Country" water tower in the background, a defense came alive on one play.

Players whooped it up loud, slapped hands and playfully leaped and bumped shoulder pads. Intensity and spirit filled a cool autumn air.

Welcome, indeed, to "Bear Country." And playoff football.

Lake Zurich's first-team defense had sniffed out perfectly a screen pass by the scout team, intercepted the ball and returned it for a would-be touchdown. The "D" didn't hide its excitement.

A season ago, Lake Zurich's defense seemed to make those plays all the time -- during games.

This season? The Bears might have not have enough defensive highlights to fill a highlight film. No wonder the defense was so excited to make a big play, even if it was practice.

And yet, there hasn't been a better defensive unit in Lake County since Day 1.

The Bears allowed a county-low 55 points during the regular season -- and that included 27 in an Opening Day loss to Fremd, which went undefeated.

Lake Zurich (8-1) hasn't lost a game since and heads into tonight's Class 7A state playoff opener against Wheeling (6-3) having ended the regular season with back-to-back shutouts of Lake Forest and Mundelein.

"Everybody's flying to the ball, so there's not just one guy making plays," veteran linebacker Tyler LaFontaine said. "Like last year we had (Brian) Cihlar all over the place. Now we got all 11 guys making tackles. We're just getting more three-and-outs, rather than turnovers."

Who said defense has to be exciting? The bottom line is points allowed.

So what that the Bears might not boast one major-college recruit. They posted 3 shutouts.

"We're only going to be as successful as all 11 (on the field) are, period," said defensive coordinator Dave Proffitt, who's the brains behind the stingy 'D.'

"Sure, we'll have one person maybe make an outstanding play on a certain down, but the next play he may not. So other people have to step up and perform what we ask of them, and everybody has to be on the same page. We've been able to do that consistently."

On its way to the Class 7A state championship game last year, Lake Zurich came up with an impressive 26 interceptions.

This season the Bears have 7 picks -- by 7 players.

Yaaaaaaawn.

Mind you, it's a defense that returned two of its three starting defensive backs in cornerback Mike Dietrich and free safety Kevin Johnson, as well as starting outside linebackers Jon Janus and Mike McGlauchlin.

The drop-off in interceptions perplexes even Proffitt.

"We're working on it every day, every week, trying to be more aggressive when the ball is in the air," Proffitt said. "For whatever reason, we're not aggressive when the ball is in the air -- meaning play the ball, not the man."

It's a defense that plays team football and relies on more than just the 11 players who start.

In the Bears' 3-5-3 scheme, they rotate five defensive linemen -- John Brewer, Will Koukal, Tony Pecho, J.J. Shield and Franko Nava. LaFontaine, Brent Marks and Wade Self start at the inside linebacker spots, with Janus and McGlauchlin outside. Janus, who leads the team in rushing, alternates with fellow linebacker/running back Adam Simpson.

Tanner Witt replaced Matt Wilson at cornerback after Wilson broke his leg against Wauconda in Week 7. Dietrich -- who had 9 interceptions last year, but only 1 this season -- is the other corner. Andrew Maloney will spell Johnson on occasion at free safety.

"I think we're better (defensively) all-around this year," said Brewer, who starts at nose guard and has a team-best 10 tackles for loss.

"Everyone plays their assignment and they run to the football," Proffitt said. "Any team that does that defensively, their chances of being successful go up tremendously."

While the Bears haven't produced the number of takeaways they did last season -- they've recovered a modest 6 fumbles -- they're as good as any defense around when it comes to picking up three-and-outs.

If that's boring, so what. That's what great defenses do. They stop the opposing offense, quickly, and get off the field.

"We're just doing what we have to do, and we're doing good," Brewer said. "We're doing our jobs."

"But we certainly have a lot of room for improvement, and that's namely in defending the pass," Proffitt said. "We have not defended the pass well. People can say what they want to about us defensively, but we haven't. And if a team does start (passing) on us consistently, we're going to have trouble then stopping the run. You see it in the NFL, you see it in major college football. You got to be able to defend both."

Here's something Lake Zurich's defense can boast of, according stat man Chris Bennett: Its average points allowed (6.1) and total yards (162.9) allowed are the lowest of any team that has made the playoffs the last six years and significantly lower than last year.

Counting the playoffs, the 2006 Bears allowed 10.2 points and 201.2 yards per game.

That sounds like a defense that's playoff-ready.

"Playing in the state championship game last year, I know how much it takes to get there and how much hard work it is," said LaFontaine, who has a team-best 36 solo tackles and 51 overall, tying him for the team lead with Marks.

"I think we've got what it takes to (get back downstate), but sometimes we lose focus. We need to work on focusing each day and not looking ahead."

They haven't so far.

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Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com

Lake Zurich's Matt Wilson wraps up and makes a tackle against Fremd.