Stevenson rallies past Lake Forest
After easily winning its last two games by a combined score of 71-6, host Stevenson was ready to face a tougher challenge when the Patriots faced Lake Forest in a North Suburban Conference battle Friday night.
Trailing 21-14 at halftime, momentum was not on Stevenson's side. But the Patriots (5-1, 3-1) put together a great second half by outscoring the Scouts 21-0 in the third quarter en route to a big 35-21 NSC victory as Lake Forest fell to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
Quarterback Aidan Crawley (13-for-18, 260 yards) hit Thomas Simmons going down the left sideline for a 45-yard touchdown play to tie the score at 21-21 just 1:58 into the third quarter.
Stevenson's Abai Atabekov intercepted a pass by Danny Van Camp (23-for-37, 278 yards) on the Stevenson 25-yard-line before a 48-yard run by Stevenson's Christopher Thorndyke (144 yards on 23 carries) gave the Pats the ball on the Lake Forest 27. Thorndyke scored on a 1-yard run to give the Patriots a 28-21 lead late in the third quarter.
"It was awesome, down 21-14 we responded very well with a lot of energy and we executed very well," said Crawley. "Everyone was making plays and that's what we need to do."
Stevenson struck again when Crawley hit Zach Hersh cutting over the middle as Hersh bolted through the defense for a 51-yard touchdown play and a 35-21 lead with 1:35 left in the third quarter.
"I think our kids kind of just rallied together at halftime and they knew we were not playing as well as we could," said Stevenson coach Brent Becker. "Takeaways are always huge so that (interception) was a huge play for us tonight and they came out and responded."
There was plenty of offensive action in the first half as Lake Forest's Marty Hippel (42 yards on 15 rushes) went 98 yards for the touchdown on the opening kickoff before Sufyan Hussain's extra point made the score 7-0 just 14 seconds into the contest.
The Patriots responded with a 9-play, 65-yard scoring drive as Crawley scored on a 1-yard keeper before Caden An's extra point deadlocked the score at 7-7.
Stevenson's second drive also resulted in a touchdown as a 39-yard pass from Crawley to Simmons set the stage for a 14-yard TD run by Thorndyke and a 14-7 lead.
The Scouts bounced back with a 78-yard scoring drive as Charlie Markee caught a 13-yard TD pass from Van Camp near the left corner of the end zone to make the score 14-14 with 8:02 left in the second quarter.
Then Lake Forest got on the scoreboard again when Van Camp scored on a 1-yard keeper to cap a 64-yard scoring drive for a 21-14 lead with 2:33 left in the first half.
Stevenson's Frank Costabile had 40 yards on 9 attempts while Crawley carried the ball 6 times for 18 yards.