Scheidler, Lake Forest roll over Libertyville
A Leo from Lake Forest had a mighty fine football game on a Libra day in Libertyville.
Scouts senior quarterback Leo Scheidler passed for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed for 131 yards and 2 more TDs in visiting Lake Forest's 56-19 defeat of Libertyville on Friday night.
But Libertyville junior wide receiver Kristian Gavric also had a stellar effort on the first day of October, amassing 16 receptions for 174 yards and 2 TDs, including a one-handed, 15-yard scoring grab in a corner of the end zone to open the scoring.
The North Suburban Conference game started with a pitch-and-catch show by Wildcats senior quarterback Connor Dickson and the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Gavric. Dickson (22-of-30 passing, 223 yards, 2 TDs, INT, 54 rushing yards) hit Gavric for 19-, 24- and 15-yard completions in the initial drive.
The hosts led 7-0 at the 9:11 mark of the first quarter.
Lake Forest (5-1, 4-0) answered with a 74-yard TD drive, capped by Scheidler's 59-yard toss to wide-open wideout Cade Nowik (5 catches, 146 yards, 2 TDs).
The Scouts then struck for 3 unanswered TDs - in a span of less than 7 minutes - in the second frame, before Dickson found Gavric again, this time for a 26-yard tally with 36 ticks left in the half.
Electric Lake Forest senior running back/returner Jahari Scott (18 rushes, 96 yards, 2 rushing TDs) gave the Scouts' giddy throng of student fans another reason to beam and jump, returning the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a TD with only 23 seconds left in the half.
Lake Forest, which defeated Libertyville 23-14 in the teams' spring meeting, owned a 36-13 advantage at the break on Libertyville's homecoming. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Scheidler - shifty and speedy and smooth - got to rest after totaling 130 yards passing and 94 yards rushing in the first 24 minutes.
Lake Forest made it a 42-13 contest late in the third quarter, thanks to Scheidler's 16-yard TD gallop.
Libertyville (4-2, 2-2) produced a thrill for the home fans - including members of the school's inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame inductees - when senior Andrew Scott returned a kickoff 99 yards for the Wildcats' final score at 1:13 of the third quarter.
Lake Forest's Scott added a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, and Lake Forest junior linebacker Robert Pasinato picked off a pass and returned it 55 yards for a TD with 7:38 remaining.
Both teams entered the contest having scored 146 points apiece in the season's first 5 games.