Eventually, Warren gets past Libertyville
The offensive scheme that the Libertyville Wildcats use can be confusing to opposing defenses. So it was no surprise that it took Warren senior Gary Eppinger and the Blue Devil defense time to adjust in the Devils 2010 season finale against visiting Libertyville.
Once the defense began to settle in, everything else fell into place for Warren. The Devils erupted for 41 straight second-half points, including a pair of scores in the first 1:53 of the second half, to roll Libertyville 47-14 Friday night.
The sixth win of the year qualified Warren (6-3, 4-2) for the Class 8A playoffs. Libertyville closed out a disappointing season with a 3-6 overall record, 2-4 in the North Suburban Lake division.
"We are very happy to be in the playoffs at 6-3 instead of 5-4," Warren coach Dave Mohapp said.
Warren wasn't happy at halftime as the Devils trailed Libertyville 14-6. The Wildcats offense led by the spectacular play of senior quarterback AJ Schurr and senior wide receiver Jeremy Birck rolled up nearly 300 yards in offense in the first 24 minutes.
"We talked all week about playing with pride," Schurr said. "We knew we couldn't eliminate Warren from the playoffs and we knew we couldn't make the playoffs ourselves, so it was all about coming out and playing with pride."
The pride that the Wildcats played with in the first half took a big hit to start the second half as Warren sophomore Davonte Wilcox returned the kickoff 67 yards, setting the Devils offense up in great shape.
Three plays later, the offensive fireworks for Warren started. Senior Nolan Sordyl (18 carries, 122 yards) scored the second of his 3 touchdowns from 18 yards out to cut the lead to 14-12.
Fifty-five seconds later, following a turnover, the Wildcats went one way and Wilcox went 45 yards the other way and the Devils had the lead for good at 20-14.
"When the offense takes the ball like that and does what they did, it really picks up the defense," Eppinger said. "It took us some time to figure out the Libertyville offense. AJ is a great player and I am sure he will be playing somewhere next year."
Eppinger and the defense limited Libertyville to no first downs and 10 yards in offense in the third quarter while forcing 3 turnovers.
"We have really played good defense all year and tonight, we adjusted to the Libertyville offense and came out and really played in the second half," Mohapp said. "(Libertyville) is tough because you don't see that kind of offense too much around here."