Wildcats win, keep playoff hopes alive
Host Libertyville knew it had to win if it was going to keep its playoff hopes alive Friday night in North Suburban Conference football action.
And the Wildcats were very sharp from the outset in their Lake Division battle against Mundelein as they built a commanding 34-0 halftime lead before rolling to a 41-0 victory.
The Mustangs (1-7, 1-4) had very little running room the entire first half as Libertyville (4-4, 3-2) opened the scoring on a 10-yard touchdown run by junior Nick McDowell 4:12 into the contest. The extra point by Andy Sitz gave the Wildcats a quick 7-0 lead.
After another Mundelein drive stalled, Libertyville scored again as senior quarterback Campbell Stemper lofted a high pass to Josh Trees for a 28-yard TD play and a 14-0 lead with 3:04 left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats' next scoring drive took one play as Stemper hit a wide open Kevin Verlee bolting down the field for a 39-yard TD pass and a 20-0 lead late in the opening period.
An interception by James Zotto set up Libertyville's next scoring drive as Zotto took a pitch going left and scored on a 13-yard run for a 27-0 lead 1:21 into the second quarter.
The Wildcats' longest scoring drive would be next as they marched 85 yards on nine plays with Trees going over the middle and managing to hold onto a 16-yard TD pass from Stemper for a 34-0 advantage with 3:33 left in the first half.
"I bobbled it, but I kept my eye on it the whole time and pulled it in," Trees said. "We had a pretty tough week of practice but we came through tonight."
Libertyville had a chance to tack on six more points before halftime but essentially ran out of time on the Mundelein 6-yard-line.
After the Mustangs stopped the Cats on fourth-and-goal early in the third quarter, Libertyville's Chad Uhler picked off a Aaron Metzger pass and raced 15 yards for the TD and a 41-0 lead with 8:20 left in the period.
"They have four losses against four very good teams and they were so much more physical than us," said Mundelein coach Bob Stone. "Their offensive line was tough and their defense was very aggressive.
Stemper was 7-for-7 passing for 116 yards while teammate Nate Johnson had 85 yards rushing on 11 carries. Zotto added 82 yards on six attempts while Metzger had 41 yards rushing. The Mustangs were held to 94 yards of total offense.
"Our focus was to come out and rebound from last week's loss and the preparation showed tonight," said Libertyville coach Randy Kuceyeski. "We obviously have to stop (Lake Forest's) passing attack and this is a huge confidence builder headed into next week."