Beckman, Lakes gives N. Chicago the boot

Host North Chicago kept its North Suburban Prairie Division football game against Lakes close for about two and a half quarters Friday night.

But after holding a 6-0 lead midway through the third quarter, the visiting Eagles flew the coop against the Warhawks as they took a 12-0 lead on Prince Miles' fumble recovery before rolling to a 32-6 victory.

Lakes (3-2, 2-1) broke up a scoreless battle when junior Mike Beckman kicked the first of his 4 field goals - from 25 yards out - with 4:39 left in the opening quarter.

North Chicago (0-5, 0-2) kept the Eagles at bay as Beckman missed a 30-yard field goal wide right with 1:20 remaining in the first quarter. But Beckman redeemed himself with 5:50 left in the second quarter as his 37-yard field goal gave Lakes a 6-0 lead that it took into halftime.

"He is a very solid kicker, he always has been, and that was definitely the most (field goals) he's ever had in a game," said Lakes coach Luke Mertens. "We got the offense going in the second half, but we can't come out every week like we did in the first quarter."

The Warhawks were set to punt with 6:28 left in the second quarter when North Chicago punter Keenan Handy fumbled a bad snap before picking up the ball and starting to run. Handy fumbled moments later, and Miles scooped up the ball before racing 34 yards down the left sideline for the TD and a 12-0 lead.

"(Miles) got the scoop and score and he was definitely pretty excited about that," Mertens said. "The defense played a great game and they've been playing well all year."

Lakes boosted its lead to 15-0 when Beckman booted a 32-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to make the score 15-0.

North Chicago did manage to make things interesting when quarterback Jermaine Phillips hit Demitrius Starks with a 64-yard bomb down the right sideline to cut the gap to 15-6 with 10:58 to go.

But the Eagles would bounce right back when running back Andrew Tubek (17 carries, 140 yards rushing) broke off a 61-yard TD run after almost being stopped cold in a crowd of defenders.

The TD hiked the Eagles' lead to 22-6 lead with 10:41 to play.

"I was right in the middle, then I saw a hole, broke out, kept my feet going and found the end zone," said Tubek. "I think offensively we started off a little slow, but in the second half we picked it up and played the way we are supposed to play."

Lakes continued to dominate play in the fourth quarter as a big punt return by Tubek gave his squad the ball first-and-goal on the Warhawks' 7-yard-line.

After a North Chicago half-the-distance penalty, Tyler Menheer scored on a 4-yard TD run for a 29-6 lead with 9:13 left. Beckman added a 28-yard field goal to close out the scoring with 4:11 to play.

Lakes quarterback Nick Hibbing was 8-for-12 passing for 79 yards, while Menheer had 31 yards rushing on 6 carries.

Brandon Davis led the Warhawks with 51 yards rushing on 11 attempts.