Libertyville hangs on to victory at Zion-Benton
It was a night when Mother Nature could not make up her mind by the lake.
It wasn't pretty, but as far as Libertyville is concerned, it got the job done.
The Wildcats used a balance offensive attack and stout defense to upend host Zion-Benton 21-7 in a North Suburban Lake contest Friday night.
"Not the most inspired performance," said Libertyville coach Randy Kuceyeski of his team's effort. "We feel relieved to get the win. Both teams had to play in the conditions."
Libertyville's first two possessions ended in turnovers. The first on a Kevin Penny (13 carries, 80 yards) fumble and the second on AJ Shurr interception by Zion-Benton defensive back Tavaris Thomas.
But outside of a few fumbled snaps, it was a "Shurr" thing for the Wildcats' QB.
After a scoreless for quarter, Libertyville (3-2, 2-1 Lake) finally broke through on the first play of the second quarter as AJ Shurr (9 of-10 passing, 169 yards, 2 TDs) found wide receiver Eric Andrews (7 catches, 93 yards, 2 touchdowns) near the sideline, who broke a handful of tackles and followed his blockers toward the end zone.
That was not the only Shurr-to-Andrews connection. A possession after a 1-yard touchdown run by Nick McDowell, Shurr rolled out and connected with Andrews in the corner of the end zone with 35 seconds left in the 1st half to cap off the Wildcats' scoring. Zion-Benton fell to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the Lake
"AJ threw the ball really well," Coach Kuceyeski said his junior quarterback, "but we had three red-zone possessions to start the second half and came up empty."
After another fumbled snap that was recovered by Zion-Benton defensive lineman Dakota Roberts, Shurr's night was over. He was replaced by senior quarter ack Matt Persin.
Kuceyeski said the change had nothing to do with the bobbled snaps.
"We just wanted to get Matt some snaps," Kuceyeski said.
All Persin had to do was hand the ball off to Penny and Nick McDowell (11 carries, 54 yards, TD) and let the defense do the rest.
"Our defense was in command the entire game," Kuceyeski said. "They dominated the line of scrimmage."
Libertyville's defense only gave up 79 yards of offense in the first half, one on a 59-yard pass play, and 105 yards for the entire game. The only Zee-Bees score came on a 67-yard punt return by Tavaris Thomas.