Cook and Lake County football roundup: Lake Zurich gets back on track

Alex Pirone and Lake Zurich bounced back Friday in Lake Forest.

Pirone, who rushed for 216 yards on 26 carries, ran for a pair of touchdowns. The Bears recovered an onside kick with just under two minutes to play as Lake Zurich stunned previously unbeaten Lake Forest 17-14.

“This season has been filled with a ton of adversity so far,” Lake Zurich coach Ron Planz said. “Some of it our own doing and some of it beyond our control. I was so happy to see us play true hard-nosed LZ brand of football against Lake Forest. We showed some signs of living up to our potential at times this season, but we were finally able to string together a full game of playing with energy, toughness, and enthusiasm. That is our standard.”

Lake Zurich (2-3, 1-2), which was off to its worst start since 2021, opened the scoring on a 30-yard field goal by Reid Pfeiffer late in the first quarter.

Pirone then had a 65-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to make it 10-0. Lake Forest (4-1, 2-1) came back to cut the lead to 10-7 with under a minute to go in the first half on a touchdown pass.

Pirone then set himself and the Bears up. He busted off a long run and then capped it off with a one-yard touchdown to make it 17-7 midway through the third quarter.

The Scouts closed to 17-14 on a touchdown run with two minutes to play. But the Bears recovered the ensuing onside kick to preserve the victory.

Maine South 32, New Trier 0: Maine South (2-3, 1-0), which had a brutal nonconference schedule, opened up Central Suburban South play with a complete win over New Trier. Michale Dellumo had a 78-yard touchdown run. Jameson Purcell threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Brady Marques for the Hawks.

Hersey 55, Elk Grove 7: Colton Gumino ran for 4 touchdowns and threw for two others as Hersey (3-2, 1-0) won its third straight. Gumino had touchdown runs of 25, two, three and four yards. He was also 6-of-12 for 132 yards and fired touchdown passes to Grant Kalata that covered 11 yards and Jeremy Zaro that went for 32 yards. Brandon Jenkins, who rushed for 122 yards on 15 carries, also had a 93-yard kickoff return. Elk Grove (1-4, 0-1) scored on a 37-yard touchdown from Daniel Pasterski to Daryl Hunt.

Prospect 42, Wheeling 0: Jack Skoog threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns as Prospect (3-2, 1-0) won its third in a row. Noah Easter had four carries for 60 yards and a touchdown while Matthew Donelly added four carries for 40 yards and two touchdowns. Lucas Deines threw for 100 yards and a touchdown while picking up 40 yards in receiving and a touchdown. Nate Cichy had three catches for 112 yards and a touchdown while Nick Carlucci added two catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.

Maine West 37, Highland Park 12: Maine West (4-1, 1-0) opened up CSL North play with a solid win in Des Plaines. Make Makota, who rushed for 178 yards on 22 carries, scored three times on runs of 10, 4 and 14 yards. Tely Litas (10-of-17, 187 yards) connected twice to Dante Hicks (6 receptions, 134 yards) on touchdown passes of 4 and 80 yards as the Warriors bounced back from last week’s loss.

Vernon Hills 36, Maine East 12: Vernon Hills (1-4, 1-0) ran to its first win of the season as the Cougars piled up 460 yards on the ground. Giuseppe Urso led Vernon Hills with 17 carries for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Langston Miller had 160 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown while Colin McMurray added 100 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns. Maine East (2-3, 0-1) lost its third straight. Tryfon Giolas ran for a touchdown and threw a scoring pass to Jaiden Whitehead for the Blue Demons.

Antioch 50, North Chicago 8: Antioch (4-1, 3-0) broke away from an 8-8 tie in the second quarter to post an impressive victory. Martin Cohen, who had 12 carries for 118 yards, scored on touchdown runs of 19, 23 and 16 yards. Collin Arquilla and Brook Welsch each had touchdown runs while Kenny Morgan picked up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.

Lakes 42, Round Lake 7: Ian Ankey fired 4 touchdown passes as Lakes (2-3, 1-2) picked up the win. Ankney threw touchdown passes of 49 and 26 yards to John Zutkis, a 13-yarder to Mason Gialo and a 29-yarder to Trent Miller. Round Lake is now 0-5, 0-3.

Carmel 42, Marian Catholic 20: Carmel quarterback Trae Taylor, who received and offer from LSU earlier Friday, celebrated by leading the Corsairs (3-2) to an easy win. Taylor threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another while Donovan Day had a 38-yard touchdown run and Emilian Gallardo had a 36-yard interception return. Carmel jumped to a 14-0 lead and never looked back against Marian Catholic (2-3).

Warren 42, Zion Benton 6: Warren (3-2, 2-1) rolled for the second week in a row in Gurnee.

Stevenson 35, Waukegan 6: Aidan Crawley connected with Thomas Simmons for a pair of touchdowns as Stevenson (4-1, 2-1) rolled. Frank Costabile had touchdown runs of four and 29 yards while Fatman Thorndyke had a 15-yard touchdown run. DAngelo Washington had 14 tackles, 5 for loss, Griffin Suren had 10 tackles, 4 for loss and Sunny Tsui, 8 tackles, two for loss for a defense that 9 three and outs.

Glenbard West 63, Leyden 0: Leyden (3-2) ran into an inspired Glenbard West team as the Hilltoppers (1-4) picked up their first win.