Painful finish for Round Lake

Host Round Lake had its chances to pick up a win Friday night against North Chicago in the teams' North Suburban Prairie Division football game.

But after tying the game at 8-8 with 9:27 to play, the Panthers would watch the Warhawks roll off the final 22 points of the fourth quarter, as North Chicago (1-5, 1-2) won 30-8 for its first victory under first-year coach Glen Kozlowski.

Round Lake (0-6, 0-4) had trouble containing the Warhawks' running game all night in the steady rain, but it was a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jermaine Phillips to Darrell Robinson that gave North Chicago a 6-0 lead with 10:13 left in the second quarter. Todd Bland ran in the conversion and the score would remain 8-0 at halftime.

The defensive battle remained 8-0 after three quarters and the Warhawks were threatening with a third-and-goal from the 13 early in the fourth quarter.

But then disaster struck for North Chicago, as it attempted a reverse play and fumbled the ball. Round Lake's Jorge Venegas scooped up the fumble and raced 82 yards in the other direction before being brought down at the Warhawks' 5.

Round Lake running back Edgar Rivera then scored on a 5-yard run to cut the lead to 8-6 with 9:27 remaining. After spreading out the North Chicago defense, sophomore quarterback Anthony Gutierrez ran in the conversion to force the 8-8 deadlock.

"It's good to get a victory, and every week we get a little better," Kozlowski said. "We got a little sloppy with the ball, but our kickoff return made a great play scoring, and it just kind of snowballed from there."

After forcing the 8-8 tie, North Chicago scored on the ensuing kickoff as a teammate pitched the line-drive kick to junior Keenan Handy, who raced 70 yards up the middle for the TD and a 14-8 lead. Demitrius Starks added the conversion run.

The Panthers' next drive stalled and the Warhawks took over at their own 35.

Four plays later, senior Brandon Davis (135 yards rushing) busted through the middle of the Round Lake defense before racing 51 yards for the TD with 3:44 to go. Bland added the 2-point run for a 24-8 advantage.

"We're getting better, but we're still confusing effort with results," said Round Lake coach John Coursey. "We're struggling, but we're heading in the right direction. They (North Chicago) ran a lot of isolation on us and they executed better than we did."

A fumble by Round Lake deep in its own territory set up North Chicago's final TD, as Davis scored on an 8-yard run with 2:21 left.