Warren keeps rolling, shuts out Lake Forest to earn NSC crown

The key to Warren's success this season has been on defense.

When the defense has allowed less than 17 points, the Blue Devils are undefeated. On Friday night, Warren posted its second consecutive shutout to defeat Lake Forest 34-0, clinching a playoff spot and a conference title. Warren has given up only seven points in its past three games.

Warren (6-2, 6-0 North Suburban Conference) went into the half with a 21-0 lead, but things could have been much different.

Lake Forest (4-4, 3-3) reached the red zone twice in the first half, but didn't score. The Scouts missed a field goal and Warren made a goal-line stand holding the ball carrier a yard short on fourth-and-goal from the 2.

“We felt that it's not over until they reach the blue paint,” Warren senior linebacker and running back Donovan McNeal said. “We try our best to keep that zero on the scoreboard and that is what we did.”

Warren held Lake Forest to 174 yards of total offense. X'Zavion Montgomery had an interception and Anthony Soto blocked a punt, and just missed blocking another.

“When we repped it in practice, they were not fast enough to reach,” Soto said about the punt block. “Coaches told me 'rush that gap and you would be right there blocking it' and it happened.”

Despite the shutout, coach Bryan McNulty said he expects better.

“We have a lot of things we have to fix,” he said. “We were sloppy. We were sloppy with penalties. I think at times we didn't play hard, but we have a pretty high standard for our kids and I think that is why we are successful.”

Offensively, Warren wasted no time getting started. Aaron Stewart took the first play from scrimmage 75 yards into the end zone.

The Blue Devils scored on each of their first three possessions with Dajhir Gordon hauling in a touchdown from Nate Foster, and McNeal scoring from a yard out. McNeal had another touchdown run in the second half, and Foster pounded the ball in from a yard out.

Stewart finished the game with 152 yards rushing, while McNeal added 96.

Lake Forest's Daniel Van Camp threw for 124 yards, with Charlie Markee accounting for 70 of those yards on four receptions.

Warren finishes the regular season at Zion-Benton, while Lake Forest will look to end a three-game losing streak and become playoff eligible against Mundelein.

“We want to keep getting better,” McNulty said. “We took a little step back tonight, we didn't necessarily get better tonight, but we will fix it this week in practice.”