Lake Zurich ready for anything
A chin guard strapped tightly to his face failed to hide Zach Till's grin.
For the first time since he sprained his left ankle and fractured his left foot in a playoff-opening win over Geneva three weeks ago, the Lake Zurich senior quarterback wore a helmet and shoulder pads.
"It feels good, for sure," Till said at practice Friday. "I'm excited."
Till, who did some light throwing and running earlier in the week, participated in a drill during the middle of practice and never hobbled or winced, drawing raised eyebrows, a nod and a smile from coach Bryan Stortz.
Still, senior Steven Kuhn is expected to make his third straight start at quarterback when No. 8 Lake Zurich visits No. 2 Rockford Boylan for today's 1 p.m. Class 7A state semifinal.
"I don't really plan on him playing," Stortz said of Till, a three-year varsity starter who's operated the Bears' option attack the last two seasons.
Till understands his coach's outlook.
"I haven't gotten any reps this week either," the QB said. "It's probably better that we go with Steve since he's been taking reps the last two weeks. But I'm going to be ready if they need me."
Till plans on being in uniform today after watching the Bears' last two games from the sidelines on crutches.
He said the sprain is essentially gone and his foot won't require surgery. He ditched the crutches this week at school, using them on alternating days, in hopes some walking would strengthen the muscles in his leg and foot.
He's taken a cautious approach at practice, too.
"I've been doing a little bit of throwing pretty much the whole week and a little bit of jogging, but not too much," Till said. "Besides that, I've been icing and doing some therapy inside with the trainer. That's about it."
Whether Till plays might depend not only on his game shape and how much pain he can tolerate in his foot, but how badly his team needs him.
The Bears have won defensive battles the last two weeks, edging top-seeded Glenbard West 10-3 in the second round and No. 4 Elk Grove 17-10 in last Saturday's quarterfinal.
Kuhn was 3 of 4 for 13 yards against Glenbard West and 4 of 4 for 57 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to Minnesota-bound Jack Lynn, against Elk Grove.
"We haven't asked him to do too much," Stortz said of Kuhn. "You don't want him to feel like he has to win the game. Not that Zach was doing that either. We try to minimize what we're asking out of him. I thought Steve did a good job the last two games. As he's gotten more and more reps, I think he's gotten more and more comfortable."
Kuhn started the Bears' first two games of the season when Till was sidelined with a sprain to his other (right) ankle.
"He's been improving tremendously," Till said. "He's been looking a lot better this week than he's looked ever before."
Shuffling Bears: Sophomore offensive lineman Noah Allgood, who missed last Saturday's game with strep throat, practiced this week.
"He's back," Bryan Stortz said. "But (inside linebacker) Colton Moskal dinged up his shoulder in the Elk Grove game. He's questionable for the (Boylan) game. So Allgood has been taking linebacker reps all week.
"It's what our team is this year," Stortz added. "I think our kids have really adapted. Things happen. Guys have stepped up."
The sophomore Moskal, whose older brother Blake also plays linebacker, practiced Thursday and Friday.
Because of injuries and illness, starting middle linebacker Taylor Coleman has been starting at offensive tackle, too, since the playoffs started. He's been rotating with Jimmy Bohn.
"More fun (than exhausting)," Coleman said with a smile of the double duty.
The adversity is something Coleman and his teammates have embraced.
"We've had a ton of guys step up," Coleman said. "That's Lake Zurich football. When one guy goes down, another goes in and we keep playing our game."
Rock-solid Rockford Boylan: The Titans average nearly 43 points per game and are led by quarterback Lamont Toney and running backs Tyreis Thomas and DeMarcus Vines.
Boylan also has Northwestern-recruit Dean Lowry, who was named all-state Friday. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Lowry plays defensive line and tight end.
"They're fast," Bryan Stortz said. "I think their skill guys are as good as any we've seen. They make plays. A lot of big plays. Defensively, they've got good team speed, and their kicking game is probably the best we've seen."
Boylan has won 26 games in a row since losing to Wheaton North in the opening round of the 2009 playoffs.
"They're a great team," Taylor Coleman said. "They have a lot of guys who can make plays to the ball, and they have good coaches."
Nice move: Taylor Coleman, a two-year starting linebacker, moved to Lake Zurich from Georgia when he was in the seventh grade.
That was just when Lake Zurich was starting to establish itself as a perennial state power.
"It was a good thing to come into," Coleman said with a smile.
All-state material: Lake Zurich senior linebacker Jack Lynn was named to the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Class 7A all-state team Friday.
Other Lake County players named all-state were Carmel senior fullback Jordan Kos (Class 7A), Antioch senior fullback Dan Arden (Class 6A), Lakes junior running back Direll Clark (Class 6A), Barrington senior offensive tackle Dan Voltz (Class 8A) and Vernon Hills senior two-way lineman Wayne Didier (Class 5A).