Falcons getting it all together against Lake Zurich
It's easy to point at the gaudy offensive stats and give credit for Wheaton North's 2-0 start this fall.
With a Division I tailback going for back-to-back 200-yard games, and a quarterback whose father played the position in the NFL and who is coming on strong, the Falcons have piled up 75 points in two weeks. But it was Wheaton North's defense that was just as impressive in Friday's 26-7 win over defending Class 7A champion Lake Zurich.
The Falcons blanked the visitors for 3 quarters before Tom Flaherty's late 9-yard TD run finally got the Bears (1-1) on the board. It was the first points allowed this fall by the Falcons, who shut out Addison Trail in Week 1.
"A shutout would have been nice but we got the 'W' and that's what counts," Falcons linebacker John Sambo said. "We prepared well and we came in and we took it to them."
While Wheaton North quarterback Taylor Graham - whose dad Kent played professionally - was throwing TD passes to Hunter Thorson and Ivan Tamba in the first half, his teammate Mike Trumpy added a businesslike 56 yards and a score as the Falcons led 20-0 at the half. The Bears, meanwhile, managed just 52 yards of offense and 3 first downs through two quarters.
Lake Zurich did turn things around in the second half, opening up the third quarter with a long drive that ate up plenty of clock and produced 6 first downs, but stalled when Tanner Witt overthrew Andrew Maloney in the end zone on fourth down.
The Bears eventually accumulated more than 250 yards of offense, but it was way too little, way too late, especially since Trumpy busted off a 91-yard TD run in the fourth quarter on his way to 229 yards on the ground.
"We moved the ball pretty well. We just didn't put any points up," Bears coach Bryan Stortz said.
The Falcons, on the other hand, took advantage of most of their opportunities aside from a pair of closely missed field goals.
"They did a great job executing," Stortz said of the Wheaton North attack. "We felt we were well-prepared. But any time an offense can be well balanced it can be difficult to defend. And they did that tonight."
Falcons coach Joe Wardynski can't put his finger on one reason in particular as to why his defense has played so well. Friday it pressured the quarterback, covered receivers well and had speedy linebackers make plays all over the field.
"The kids had some huge stops," he said. "They buckled down and made plays in the red zone. I don't know what area of our defense is the strongest. We've just got a bunch of kids who are hungry."