A Pats victory, with all the ribbons and bows

A stack of presents left sitting on the kitchen counter was awaiting Henry Wood on Friday night when he got home.

Wonder how they measured up.

After all, the Stevenson wide receiver, who was celebrating his 18th birthday, got one of the best presents of his athletic career shortly before.

He hauled in a beautiful Zach Wujcik pass while in full stride and then sprinted the rest of the way for a 42-yard touchdown with just 1:41 left to propel Stevenson to a 24-17 North Suburban Conference Lake Division victory over host Lake Zurich in front of a huge crowd that spilled into seats behind the end zone.

After starting the season at 0-2, Stevenson has now won two straight games to pull to 2-2 on the year. The Patriots also remain unbeaten in North Suburban Lake Division play, moving to 2-0 so far.

"This is the best birthday present I could ever ask for," said the 6-foot-6 Wood, whose teammates sang him "Happy Birthday" in the post-game huddle. "That (pass) was perfect. We worked on that all week in practice and I swear, I think that's the best one we've done yet. That was just right on the money, hit perfectly in stride, nice and high where only I could get it and then it was just all daylight to the end zone."

Ah, yes, the end zone. Funny Wood should mention that.

There was absolutely no daylight for Stevenson there just minutes before.

The Patriots looked like they were about to score and break up a 17-17 tie at about the five-minute mark when they had three chances at the end zone from the Lake Zurich 1-yard line.

But Lake Zurich's defense held all three times, stuffing the Patriots' rushing attempts up the middle with authority.

Talk about a drastic shift in momentum.

"That was pretty demoralizing," said Wood, whose only reception of the game was the touchdown. "But I think we actually did a pretty good job of everybody staying optimistic. This team, more than any other team I've ever played on, has really been upbeat. We knew there was still plenty of time left in the game."

But it sure would have been nice to punch in that touchdown. The Patriots assumed they would.

"We take pride in getting it in there with our linemen and everything. Something like that is usually golden for Stevenson," said Stevenson coach Bill Mitz, whose program has a rich rushing tradition. "But those kids (from Lake Zurich) really played hard on defense. We just said, 'Hey, keep your heads up. We're going to get the ball back.'"

Stevenson did indeed wind up getting the ball back ... on an interception, one of Lake Zurich's many turnovers on the night.

In the second half, Lake Zurich (2-2, 1-1) had only one productive drive, which netted a field goal. The Bears ended three of their remaining five drives by losing two fumbles and throwing the interception.

"It's been the story of our season," Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz said of the turnovers. "We can't overcome mistakes like that against quality teams. We struggled all over tonight. Good teams will make you look bad when you have mistakes in all phases of the game.

"(Stevenson) also some adjustments, too, so give them credit. And we weren't able to take advantage of some of the things we thought we could. We just didn't make the plays we needed to make."

Stevenson had a couple of big playmakers.

Besides Wood, Mike Bilton also made some sweet catches. He wound up with 10 receptions (including a 6-yard touchdown) for 145 yards. He also put Stevenson's first points on the board with an electrifying 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Stevenson quarterback Zach Wujcik rebounded from a sluggish first quarter and wound up completing 18-of-36 passes for 245 yards.

"Every single pass in the second half was perfect," Wood said of Wujcik. "That really helped us out."

Lake Zurich got its 2 touchdowns from Andrew Maloney, who rushed for a game-high 72 yards on 15 carries.

"This hurts," Lake Zurich quarterback Tanner Witt said. "Losing that way is just not good. Little mistakes and everything added up. We were moving the ball, but then we'd make a key fumble, a dropped pass, an interception and it went downhill from there.

"We haven't lost much in the last two years. This is hard."