Scouting: Lake Zurich @ Stevenson

Lake Zurich (2-2, 1-1) at Stevenson (4-0, 2-0)

When 7:30 p.m.

Last week Lake Zurich lost to Libertyville, 19-14; Stevenson def. Lake Forest, 31-21.

Outlook Dorothy says, "There's no place like home," and Stevenson hopes to be echoing that. The Patriots begin the first of a four-game homestand, which is a rarity in high school football but made possible because of a quirk in last year's schedule that is now reversing itself. "Four straight games at home is pretty nice," Stevenson coach Bill Mitz said-Being undefeated is also nice for the Patriots, who have gotten off to rough starts the last couple of years. "But anytime you have no losses, everyone wants to pin that first loss on you," Mitz said. "I expect Lake Zurich will come over pretty fired up to play us."-The Bears will try to extinguish the spark that Stevenson gets from fullback Mark Weisman, who rolled up 275 yards on an astounding 46 carries last week against Lake Forest. But focusing too much on Weisman can be costly. Quarterback Kevin Earl has been hot, too. He completed 8-of-11 passesfor 130 yards last week. One of his favorite targets was Nate Johnson, who caught 4 passes for 67 yards. "You get so worried about the run with Stevenson that you almost forget about Earl and he's very reliable," Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz said. "He gives Stevenson that extra dimension."-The Bears will try to rebound from a close loss to Libertyville that ended with a fumble on a drive in the final minutes that was moving steadily to what could have been the winning touchdown. "They made a few plays down the stretch and we didn't," Stortz said of Libertyville. "But I'd rather be in a tight game than the alternative."-Last week, Lake Zurich got 107 rushing yards out of Jacob Brinlee.