Weisman, Stevenson outrun Lake Forest
Stevenson figured the best way to avoid getting beat by Tommy Rees' arm was to use Mark Weisman's legs.
Weisman carried the ball an incredible 46 times for 275 yards as the visiting Patriots won the battle of ball control and defeated Lake Forest 31-21 in North Suburban Lake action on Thursday.
"We could put the bus on his back and let him drive it home," said Stevenson coach Bill Mitz, who may have only been half-kidding.
Rees, who is headed for Notre Dame next year, hit on 19-of-27 passes for 205 yards and 1 interception. Last week in a win at Libertyville, Rees threw for 347 yards and 4 touchdowns.
"That was the goal, to keep us on the field the whole game," Weisman said.
Sure, but 46 carries? The yards and carries are personal bests for Weisman, who will play at Air Force next year, but not school records. Joel Dant beat both marks in the early 1990s.
"I work pretty hard in the offseason working on my legs, mostly - just for this reason," Weisman said. "I love contact, I love going through the middle. There's a hill in Northbrook I run all the time."
Mitz gave credit to fellow running back Matt Harris for volunteering to be the lead blocker. Weisman and Harris were helped by the offensive line featuring David Woodstein, Justin Fauntleroy, Thomas McGovern, Andrew Kordek and Jonathan Bash.
"Matt Harris came off the field every time and said, 'Give it to Mark, I can lead through and pancake that guy,'" Mitz said. "He didn't want to carry, he wanted to block for Mark."
Harris also made a huge defensive play, tipping and then intercepting Rees' final pass of the night at the Stevenson 12-yard line with 4:48 remaining. Weisman then ran out the clock with 10 consecutive carries.
Lake Forest (1-3, 1-1) scored first on a 25-yard run by 5-foot-8 running back Eric Gerber. Stevenson (4-0, 2-0) answered with an 80-yard drive, then took a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter on a 2-yard Weisman run.
While Rees deservedly gets plenty of attention, Patriots junior Kevin Earl (8-for-11, 130 yards) showed he can throw the ball, too. Stevenson took over at its own 9-yard line with 2:05 remaining in the first half. Earl completed 4 passes for 59 yards to set up a 25-yard field goal by Michael Praljak and give the Patriots a 17-7 lead at intermission.
The field goal proved to be important when Rees hit Connor Moutvic for a 60-yard catch, run and score on the second play of the third quarter. Lake Forest closed within 24-21 late in the third quarter on a 1-yard run by T.J. Jackson.
But Stevenson came through with a 13-play, 76-yard drive to go back ahead by 10 on Harris' 4-yard touchdown.
The Scouts hit the 60-yard pass to Moutvic, but 12 of Rees' 19 completions went for less than 10 yards.
"Frankly, I think he could have done anything he wanted," Lake Forest coach Chuck Spagnoli said of Rees. "I don't think they did anything that made him throw anything short. They pretty much played their base defense. We felt like we could have had a couple more scores. Give them credit. They made plays."