Corsairs putting it all together

No wonder Carmel is 6-1 and seeking its fifth straight win Friday when it hosts St. Patrick.

The Corsairs seem to have everything and everyone coming together at just the right time.

Head coach Andy Bitto says his offensive line is playing its best of the season. Meanwhile, he's thrilled with the emergence of a former reserve who is now a starter in the backfield.

Junior Eric Stevenson has slid into Carmel's slot back role and has shown his versatility in being able to catch the ball as well as run with it.

"He's good," Bitto said. "If he becomes a good blocker, he'll be able to do everything and I could see him being an all-area kind of kid by next year."

Stevenson gained the attention of Carmel coaches when he was putting up gaudy numbers during junior varsity games.

"He was scoring like 3 or 4 touchdowns and getting 200 rushing yards a game," Bitto said. "Now, at the varsity level, he's still looking good like that. He's making big plays in practice and in games."

Stevenson joins an already well-rounded backfield that includes Jimmy Miller, Sean Madison and Mike Taylor. Bitto says all four will rotate in and out of games from now on.

"We're going to get all of them as much playing time as we can," Bitto said. "We'll be able to keep everyone fresh and use the right guys in the right situations. We'll try to keep everyone happy."

That's kind of the job of the offensive line, too. When it does its job, all the running backs are happy.

And lately, Carmel's line has been right on task.

"Our offensive line has done a great job, which has been really important," Bitto said. "One guy who has really stood out has been (guard) Patrick Lyons. He probably had one of his best games of the year last week (against St. Joseph). He can do a lot of different thing for us. He's very versatile."

That hurts: The trainers and doctors at Lake Zurich are working overtime this season.

No wonder the 4-3 Bears have sometimes struggled in their quest to defend the Class 7A title they won in Champaign last year. Lake Zurich had some injuries in its march to the state title game, but nothing like this.

According to head coach Bryan Stortz, seven starters have gone down with significant injuries that have either kept them out of games or made them less effective than usual.

The casualty list includes: Tom Flaherty (ankle), Andrew Maloney (ankle), Kyle Williams (broken hand), Tony Pecho (knee), Will Grunow (broken foot), Ricky Erickson (knee), Kevin Gratys (leg).

"We really need to get healthy," Stortz said. "We had some injuries last year, but we had depth. We don't have quite as much depth this year so we need our guys back. But we've got the kind of injuries that need more than a week to heal up."

Bye-bye backfield: Lake Zurich's backfield has been hardest hit with injuries. Tom Flaherty, Andrew Maloney and Kyle Williams are all running backs.

Flaherty and Maloney each missed a game - Mundelein and Warren respectively, and are still trying to get back to full speed.

Williams broke his hand against Mundelein when a helmet hit it just right. He hasn't missed a game, but last week against Lake Forest, he played using a splint.

"Early last week, he came to practice and that splint was like a club. He was having a hard time with it," Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz said. "But as the week went on, the splint got smaller and smaller. But we had to use Kyle in more of a blocking role against Lake Forest because we were still concerned with him being able to hold onto the ball."

One positive to come out of the Bears' banged up backfield is the emergence of sophomore Jacob Brinlee, who has gotten a lot more playing time with his injured teammates in recovery.

"He's playing really well," Stortz said. "Last week (against Lake Forest), he played about 60 percent of the game offensively. And I think he played almost the whole game against Warren and Mundelein. He's just a sophomore but he's moved in there pretty well."

More LZ injury news: The Bears are slowly but surely getting back all of their injured players, including Tony Pecho, Will Grunow, Ricky Erickson and Kevin Gratys.

Pecho, the veteran defensive lineman and long snapper, tore his anterior cruciate ligament before the Warren game in Week 5. He tried returning last week against Lake Forest and aggravated the knee again and will likely be sidelined for at least the next two weeks, which would mean he could return for the playoffs.

Grunow broke his foot in the Libertyville game five weeks ago and has been out ever since. However, the standout wide receiver will likely be cleared for the rest of the season starting with Friday's game against Grant.

Meanwhile, Gratys strained a ligament in his leg during the third week of practice and was out until his return against Lake Forest. Stortz says Gratys is still sore, but is determined to keep playing.

Ditto for Erickson. The free safety hurt his knee against Lake Forest last week but was encouraged by the fact that there wasn't much swelling. His status for the Grant game will depend on doctors' evaluations this week.

Quote of the week: "We've been in must-win mode since the Warren game." - Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz when asked if his team's game against Grant this week was a must-win. The Bears dropped to 2-3 after their Week 5 loss to Warren. The defending Class 7A champions are now 4-3 and enter Friday's North Suburban crossover game against Grant needing to win their final two games to qualify for the playoffs with 6 wins. The Bears could still sneak in with 5 wins if they have enough playoff points.

• Mike McGraw contributed to this report.