Lake Zurich tops Wildcats
Lake Zurich's football team is keyed by "D."
DeLeo, too, sometimes.
Or as fans of Bears quarterback Bobby DeLeo like to chant, "Oh-ee-oh-D-LEE-oh."
On a rainy night when Lake Zurich's always dependable defense actually showed some vulnerability, it was the DeLeo-led offense that manufactured a crucial clock-eating drive late to help the host Bears hold off stubborn Wheeling 30-15 in the teams' Class 7A state playoff opener Friday.
Lake Zurich, the defending Class 7A state runner-up, improved to 9-1 with its ninth straight victory and next plays the winner of tonight's game between Notre Dame and Rolling Meadows.
"The defense plays great. They play great every week," DeLeo said. "I'm glad to see that when they got in a little trouble, we stepped it up offensively."
After DeLeo hit his favorite target, wide receiver Pat Gallagher, with a 60-yard touchdown strike with 5:08 left in the third quarter, it looked like the only question left was whether Lake Zurich's defense would post its third straight shutout.
On the Bears' previous possession, DeLeo had busted off a 44-yard touchdown run.
But trailing 23-0, Wheeling (6-4) stormed back behind quarterback Matt Holmes and its spread offense.
Holmes' 13-yard TD pass to James Kurtz with 1:41 to go in the third was the first score allowed by Lake Zurich since the fourth quarter of its blowout win over Wauconda in Week 7. Tim Powell's conversion run pulled the Wildcats within 23-8.
Wheeling then got the ball back at the Lake Zurich 35, after a 15-yard punt, and wound up scoring on fourth-and-goal from the 8, as Holmes hit Michael Zimmer on a slant.
Holmes' PAT kick cut Lake Zurich's lead to eight points with 8:02 remaining in the fourth.
"We finally realized that we had a chance to hang in there and play," Holmes said. "We all came out intimidated. It was obvious. (Lake Zurich) was playing harder than us the first half. You got to give them credit.
"Second half we came out here with the mentality to win -- This is the playoffs. We got to leave it all on the line."
What momentum Wheeling had, however, was slowed by Lake Zurich's offense. When the Bears got the ball back after the Holmes-to-Zimmer touchdown, the Bears ate up roughly 6½ minutes on the game clock.
With Jon Janus and Dan Kalcsics running behind Tyler Uhl, John Gage, Chris Blair, Steve Midday and Eddie McGlauchlin, the Bears marched from their own 14 to the Wheeling 17 before turning the ball over on downs.
"We knew we needed to hold onto the ball in order to keep the game in our control," DeLeo said. "So going out there on the drive, we knew we had to get it done."
Wheeling got the ball back with 1:36 left, but got only as far as its own 34. Tanner Witt's 27-yard interception return sealed the win for the Bears.
"We made some key mistakes down the stretch, but we played with a lot of heart," Holmes said. "We gave it a run."
The only other time Lake Zurich has allowed double-digit points in a game was its season-opening loss to Fremd.
"I don't want to say we let up, but it's not like our defense to give up that many big plays," linebacker/running back Adam Simpson said. "We practiced (Wheeling) coming out with that quad, the four receivers. We just couldn't execute it. We couldn't get (enough) guys over there. But I mean, they got some good players. They got some playmakers."