Libertyville gets defensive, handles Warren
Not much has changed with Libertyville's offense within the last year. The Wildcats still can put a lot of points on the board, and they still have dynamic quarterback Riley Lees.
Perhaps the biggest reason Libertyville remains undefeated this year and is making a good case for the best team in the northern suburbs is its defense.
It put the clamps down yet again, this time in a 48-21 win over visiting Warren, in what was a clash for first place in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division.
Libertyville moves to 7-0 (5-0 NSC Lake) and clinches the division title while Warren drops to 4-3, 4-1 NSC Lake.
Last year, Libertyville lost to Warren, 43-26 and let running back Darrius Crump run wild for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns.
This year, Libertyville's defensive starters gave up only 14 points, held Crump to 36 yards on 9 carries, rushed and sacked Warren quarterback Kyle Debevec all through the night and even threw in an electrifying defensive score, a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Riley Buncic.
"We have all the confidence in the world in our defense," said Lees, who held up his end of the bargain on the offensive end by being a part of 4 touchdowns for Libertyville. "It's a huge confidence for us to know that if we get stopped (on offense) that our defense will make a stop.
"We don't panic. We know they're going to make a stop and a play for us. Especially Riley (Buncic's) pick. We (the offense) got stopped and it could have been a big momentum changer if they (Warren) had scored again. But he came up big and made an awesome return."
Buncic's interception return for a touchdown came early in the third quarter when Warren was driving and threatening to cut a 2-touchdown deficit to just one.
The Blue Devils, down 28-14 at halftime, had forced Libertyville's potent offense into a punt just a minute into the second half. Then Jalen Powe had a huge punt return that advanced Warren all the way to the Libertyville 21-yard line.
Warren quarterback Kyle Debevec had receivers in the end zone on first down and went for the home run ball right away, but at the 1-yard line, Buncic stepped in front of Debevec's pass and made his marathon-like return.
"That was the momentum swing," Warren coach Bryan McNulty said. "I thought the beginning of the second half was crucial. We were right there. We had them inside their red zone there. But our kids played hard the entire game. They didn't give up."
The Blue Devils could have easily hung their heads.
They found themselves down 21-0 before they could say "Riley Lees." They watched Lees run all over the field and pass for 2 touchdowns (to Henry Schmidt, 15 yards and to Tim Calamari, 3 yards). Schmidt also scored on a 23-yard run on the first touchdown of the game.
Schmidt has been hot lately. He's scored 5 touchdowns over the last two weeks.
"Things just opened up. It was our game plan to run up the middle and to also get outside because they crash hard inside," Schmidt said. "Things just opened up. Anyone could have scored on the plays that I did."
Warren got back-to-back touchdowns over a five-minute span in the second quarter to grab some momentum heading into halftime. Jonathan Lauer scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Debevec and then Debevec ran in a score from 4 yards out.
But the Libertyville defense cracked down even harder after the break and Warren would not score again until the final moments of the game, when mostly reserves were playing. Back-up running back Rashad Walker ran in a 1-yard touchdown with 45 seconds remaining.
"I was really impressed with our run defense. We did a really nice job with that," Libertyville coach Mike Jones said. "We kept them from getting anything breaking out. We had nightmares from what (Crump) had last year on us. The kids did a really nice job with that this year."