Zotto, Wildcats leave 'em speechless
Libertyville junior James Zotto proved Friday night in the Wildcats' North Suburban Conference crossover at North Chicago that he can do just about anything on the football field. From catching the ball to carrying it for big gains, Zotto is a big play in waiting for the Wildcats offense.
The only area of weakness the 6-foot-2 Zotto showed was as a cheerleader after the game. Each week coach Randy Kuceyeski selects one player to lead the team in a cheer in the last huddle before they break. Zotto was selected Friday and needed a little help from his teammates and his coach.
"They love to pick on me I guess," Zotto said. "I didn't know the words, but the guys kind of helped me out."
For four quarters, Zotto helped out the Wildcats offense. His 142 yards in total offense included a 17-yard touchdown as Libertyville earned its second straight win after a 0-3 start by beating North Chicago 49-32 Friday night. North Chicago lost its third in a row and fell to 1-4.
"We all just came out pumped up after our first win last week," Zotto said. "Now it's on to Stevenson."
Libertyville (2-3) moved the ball at will most of the night. The running game with Zotto, Kevin Verlee and Nate Johnson got things going early with a pair of rushing touchdowns in building a 14-6 advantage. Then the passing game with junior quarterback Matt Persin took over and moved the ball effectively.
"The past few weeks the coaches have put all the pressure on the offense," said Persin who threw for a pair of touchdowns. "Coach wanted us to go out and get 40 points tonight and we did that."
Persin hooked up with Zotto for a 17-yard scoring play midway through the second quarter then found a hole in the Warhawks secondary on his next scoring play. Junior wide out Eric Andrews found the soft spot and took the perfect pass from Persin 74-yards for the score and a 35-6 lead to open the third quarter.
"We knew they had a hole there in that part of there defense that we wanted to exploit," Kuceyeski said.
Nick McDowell ran for three scores for the Wildcats on runs of 3, 5 and 19 yards. The last put Libertyville up 49-20 to start the fourth quarter.
The high scoring night by the Libertyville offense overshadowed a brilliant night by Deshawn Chambliss of North Chicago. He finished completed 20 of 30 passes for 332 yards and 3 touchdowns.