Scouting Libertyville at Lake Zurich
Libertyville (1-3, 1-1) at Lake Zurich (4-0, 1-0)
When: 7:30 p.m., Friday
Last week: Libertyville lost to Lake Forest, 55-37; Lake Zurich def. Zion-Benton, 45-0.
Skinny: Libertyville would love a replay of last year's game against Lake Zurich. Lake Zurich? Not so much. The Wildcats won 19-14, when they scored with just five minutes left and then scooped up a Lake Zurich fumble two minutes later. Even though Lake Zurich is undefeated and Libertyville is off to a rough start, don't think that finish from a year ago won't be on the mind of Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz. "They always play us really well," Stortz said. "Libertyville is always a tough team and this year, they can put points up on you in a hurry. They've given up points, too, but I still think we're going to have to earn everything we get against that team. We can't assume anything." - Libertyville is averaging 35 points per game but is also giving up 39.5 points per game. And in two of the last three weeks, the Wildcats have allowed 55 points, to Lake Forest and to Carmel. "People see that and think that our defense is struggling, but the thing is, we've given up at least three scores with our offense, and there have been a few times we've put our defense in a really bad position," Libertyville coach Randy Kuceyeski said. "The biggest thing we have to do is not turn the ball over." Against Lake Forest last week, the Wildcats threw 4 interceptions and lost a fumble. And yet, they still rolled up an astounding 572 yards of offense. Quarterback A.J. Schurr directed Libertyville's explosive spread offense to 423 passing yards. He also threw for 4 touchdowns, including 3 to his favorite target, 6-foot-5 Jeremy Birck "That's great," Kuceyeski said of the offensive output. "But it's not going to matter if you have 1,000 yards if you turn the ball over like that and the other team capitalizes." - Meanwhile, Lake Zurich has been capitalizing on the speed and shiftiness of running back Jacob Brinlee, one of the best in Lake County. He's rushed for 450 and is the Bears' go-to guy in scoring situations. He had 4 touchdowns and 147 yards (on just 5 carries) last week against Zion-Benton. "Defenses like to focus on him so we've been lining him up in different places and that seems to help," Stortz said of Brinlee. "It also help that (running back) Mike Shield and (quarterback) Zach Till are also playing well. That makes it tougher for defenses to focus on Jacob."