Lakes eager for visit to North Chicago

All systems are go for Friday night's much anticipated tilt in North Chicago.

Lakes and North Chicago will square off in North Chicago's first home game since a bench-clearing brawl with Simeon erupted there three weeks ago.

Fans also rushed the field and the game was ultimately called with time still remaining in the first quarter.

North Chicago was suspended for a game and the school has since been evaluating its policies and procedures related to security and conduct.

"I really don't believe we'll have another problem," said North Chicago coach Glen Kozlowski, whose team played in its first game since the suspension last week at Zion-Benton. The game was completed without incident.

"As a school, we are doing our due diligence to make sure nothing like this happens again," Kozlowski said. "I also think our kids take (good behavior) very seriously. They are embarrassed by what happened. They've seen what's been written (on Web sites and message boards) about them in the media. It really hurt them and made an impression. They want to make sure what happened never happens again, so I'm really not worried at all about Friday."

Neither is Lakes coach Luke Mertens.

He said that in all the years he's gone to North Chicago, he's never had a negative experience there.

"Honestly, we've never had the slightest issue with fans, coaches, players," Mertens said. "I think what happened was an isolated incident and I expect a typical, exciting high school football game."

Go for it: Lakes may have a good field goal kicker in Mike Beckman, but sometimes head coach Luke Mertens will decide not to use him simply on principle.

On fourth down at the Vernon Hills 2-yard line last week, the Eagles could have called in Beckman.

He is 3-for-3 this season and practically automatic from that close in. Lakes was down 20-14 with about six minutes left in the game. A field goal and some good defense could have given Lakes the chance to at least tie with another field goal later in the game.

But Lakes went for the fourth down and didn't make it. After a defensive stop, the Eagles got the ball back and Beckman did make a field goal (37 yards). But that's all the gas that was left in the tank and Lakes wound up falling 20-17.

Does Mertens regret not going for the first field goal?

"No, because we've just decided as a program that if you want to be a good program, you have to be able to punch it in from the 2-yard line," Mertens said. "You have to be able to make that play and we just didn't."

Shouldering the load: Lakes sure has had its fair share of injury trauma this season.

The Eagles lost three players to season-ending injuries early in the season and have lost two more within the last week.

Both to shoulder injuries.

Nick Tognocchi, a starting wide receiver, and John Werba, a starting safety, tore their labrums and will sidelined for the remainder.

"I with I were kidding, but I'm not," Lakes coach Luke Mertens said of his team's growing list of the walking wounded. "This is a big blow to us. Both guys are very good players.

"But, you know what, no excuses. This is the way football goes. When you play hard, stuff like this happens. We just have to shift people around and keep moving forward."

The Eagles will now start three sophomores to fill the gaps, Dan Pawlak, Dante Arnold and Mike Pfeiffer.

Friday focus: There's no hiding when you are a returning 1,000-plus yard rusher.

Defenses will find you, and key on you.

But when one door closes, another opens, and Leo Minne can attest to that.

The Grant junior has been the beneficiary of defenses that are trying their hardest to contain senior fullback, Dan Hourihan, who was the 1,000-yard man last season as a junior.

This year, yards are tougher to come by for Hourihan but Grant is still moving the ball because players like Minne are taking advantage of distracted defenses. Last week against Round Lake, Minne rolled up 269 total yards.

"If I were playing Grant, I would try to take away the dive because that's what we like to do and that's where Dan is," Grant coach Kurt Rous said. "You've got to keep an eye on Dan and I think teams are really trying to do that

"But when they key on Hourihan, that opens up the outside and that's what Leo does. He's our speed guy on the outside and the way teams are defending us, Leo is sometimes able to get pretty open on the outside."

Take that: In playing Libertyville and Stevenson in back-to-back weeks, Lake Zurich is facing two very strong running teams that happen to have two very different styles.

"Libertyville is much more about misdirection and speed on the outside," Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz said. "And Stevenson is all about lining it up and coming right at you. But they both present difficult problems."

Stortz's best answer?

Have his team create some problems, too.

Stortz says his defense, which has given up a North Suburban Conference low 45 points (11.25 points per game), is designed to do just that.

"We slant and angle and we're moving around, always switching things up," Stortz said. "We play what is called a "gap elimination" defense in which all the gaps on the field get covered, but not necessarily by the same guy in the same spot every time. You try to create a little confusion without confusing yourselves."

Not sub-par: Both Peter Rantis and Jack Lynn started out as subs.

They played their first games on the Lake Zurich varsity last year as replacements for injured players.

These days, it would be difficult to replace what Rantis, the quarterback, and Lynn, a wide receiver, bring to the table. Together, they might just turn Lake Zurich into a pass-happy team yet.

The normally run-oriented Bears unleashed a more balanced attack against Libertyville last week that included 14 passing attempts by Rantis. Seven of his completions landed in the hands of Lynn, a sophomore who gained 49 yards.

"Jack is really football savvy for a sophomore and picks things up so quickly," Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz said. "His ability to do multiple things is incredible. He also plays inside linebacker for us and we've worked him at safety. We've thrown a lot at him and he's learned it very well on the fly."

Rantis wasn't afraid to let it fly against Libertyville. He completed some tough passes in crucial situations.

"I thought Peter had one of his better games against Libertyville, maybe the best of the season," Stortz said. "I don't know if he realizes it or not, but he's got a lot of tools. It's just a matter of learning how to use all of those tools.

"I think he has his best football still in front of him."

Back in the rotation: The last time Warren tried a quarterback rotation, Nate Brill was part of it. He shared time under center with teammate Matt VanDaele back in the 2000 season.

Ironically, Brill is now overseeing the Blue Devils' first quarterback rotation since then. He's an assistant coach at Warren and is helping Pat Kenney and Patrick Oliver with the flip-flopping system, which was implemented two weeks ago.

Warren used both quarterbacks in a big win over Antioch. Kenney is a more traditional drop back passer while Oliver is a bit more mobile.

"Kenney is our starter but it was not an easy decision," Warren coach Dave Mohapp said. "Both kids had great off-seasons, both pushed to make themselves the best they could be and both have been working hard ever since.

"We just figured that even though Kenney was doing a nice job, Oliver deserved to be on the field and play also. So we kind of got a random rotation going during the Antioch game and it worked pretty well so we've stuck with it."

Pleasant surprise: With only two returning starters on defense, Warren coach Dave Mohapp was a bit concerned at the beginning of the season about how his team would fare there.

Mohapp is sleeping much better now.

The Blue Devils are giving up only 14.3 points per game, second best in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division, and started the season with a bang by holding always-tough New Trier to just 6 points.

"The defense is definitely playing better than I thought, considering how young and inexperience they were when we started," Mohapp said. "They really have a good understanding of our system and of what we're trying to do."

Another plus is that the juniors who were sophomores last year were part of a pretty darn good team.

The Blue Devil sophomore team went 8-1 and was led by Zak Lowe and Luke Mueller, both of whom are starting this year on defense.

"That group definitely came in with a certain mindset and expected to do well," Mohapp said. "They were used to success."