Scouting Week 2 Lake County football games

Lake Zurich (0-1) at Antioch (1-0)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Last week: Fremd 35, Lake Zurich 3; Antioch 34, Schaumburg 29

Last year: Did not play

Scouting Lake Zurich: Our Lake County Blue Plate Special pits one of the North Suburban’s perennial powers against the longtime king of the Northern Lake County Conference. Bears coach Ron Planz said his team wasn’t worried about the score in last week’s opener against Fremd. “I thought we played hard and never let the scoreboard dictate our effort,” he said. “That is something to be proud of and build on.” Planz said reduction in turnovers will be the key focus this week. “Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers,” he said. “We have to take care of the ball better. Turnovers cost us the game. We turned it over too much and didn’t get any back.”

Scouting Antioch: Antioch came out of a close game with Schaumburg with a win. “We made many Game 1 mistakes and faced a lot of adversity in Week 1, some of that was Schaumburg, but some of it was our own doing,” Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said. “The team overcame those with relentless hustle. We need to clean up our self-inflicted mistakes. Those are what usually makes the difference against playoff teams and we have a playoff team this Friday with Lake Zurich.” Antioch rolled up 422 yards of offense against Schaumburg, 377 of those coming on the ground. Junior running back Gavin Stone ran for 182 yards on 10 carries and had a touchdown, while junior defensive back Alex Herstkowski caused a fumble and had 2 fumble recoveries. Senior linebacker Marcus Macias blocked a field goal.

Lakes (0-1) at Vernon Hills (1-0)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Last week: Glenbrook North 21, Lakes 13; Vernon Hills 17, Grayslake North 0

Last year: Lakes 31, Vernon Hills 20

Scouting Lakes: Lakes coach Jason Ellerman said his team started slow in the first half last week against Glenbrook North. “Poor execution on offense and a lack of tackling on defense, but in the second half we gave ourselves a chance to win, but we didn’t finish,” he said. “We can get better at being more efficient on offense. On defense, we face an option offense, so we must be assignment sound.” The Lakes kickoff return team averaged a robust 43 yards a return against Glenbrook North, while the punt return team averaged 23 yards a return. “Our special teams as a whole were excellent,” Ellerman said. “John Zutkis and Will Mercure had some really nice returns in the kicking game that really sparked some life for us in the second half.” Ellerman added Connor Vinson’s high motor on the defensive line “created a lot of quarterback pressures and helped get the defense off the field,” he said.

Scouting Vernon Hills: Cougars coach Bill Bellecomo thought his squad did a nice job in all three phases of the game against Grayslake North. “We have a lot to focus on this week that we can improve on,” he said. “We were really banged up last week and we got some of those kids back this week, which is nice to have some depth.” Bellecomo is looking for even more advancements this week. “I would like to put two halves together this week,” he said. “I thought we were not executing our offense as well in the second half last week. In theory, you should see your biggest improvement from Week 1 to Week 2.” Bellecomo was particularly pleased with the Cougars’ running game in the opener. “We rushed the ball well. We did a nice job executing,” he said. “We took advantage of what they were giving us. We wanted to control time of possession and I think we did a good job of doing that.” Leading the rushing charge was Giuseppe Urso, who had 137 yards. Tackling took a step forward as well. “I thought our defense as a whole tackled well. That’s key and that’s something we did not do well last year,” Bellecomo said. “Lakes is a great test for us this week. They are big up front and their coaches get them ready to play. Typically, these are really good games. We need a great week of practice.”

Maine East (0-1) at Round Lake (0-1)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Last week: West Chicago 40, Round Lake 6;; East Aurora 41, Maine East 22

Last year: Maine East 10, Round Lake 7

Worth noting: Round Lake coach Randi Dey felt his team made some positive strides in last week’s opener. “I like that this team kept trying to find ways to get better,” he said. “Even though we lost, the effort they kept giving helped win them much-needed experience. This week, we have to get better at finishing drives.” The Panthers made it to the red zone 4 times against West Chicago and scored once. “This is progress from last season,” Dey said. “So as long as we keep trending in the right direction, we’ll do well.” Round Lake had 174 yards of total offense. “That stood out the most,” Dey said. “This showed a team that struggled to move the ball last year that they have the ability to do just that.” Zenin Reyes had 8 tackles, “which was huge for us since he plays free safety,” Dey pointed out. “He was never afraid to get in the mix.” Oscar Gonzalez also excelled on defense. “Oscar played a great game and helped keep the defense set,” Dey said. “It’s nice to be able to trust him as a coach on the field.” Kevin Rodriguez caught Round Lake’s first touchdown of the season. “Kevin was big for us on offense when it came to moving the chains and setting the standard for toughness,” Dey said. Maine East, which lost by 19 to East Aurora last week, went 3-6 last season.

Grayslake North (0-1) at Elgin (1-0)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Memorial Field, Elgin High School

Last week: Vernon Hills 17, Grayslake North 0; Elgin 20, Fenton 14

Last year: Grayslake North 35, Elgin 24

Worth noting: There were plenty of defensive superlatives for the Knights last week against Vernon Hills. Maurice Jorden had 5 tackles, 7 assists and 2 tackles for loss, while fellow senior Connor Vargo also had 5 tackles and an interception. “I like how hard we played on defense,” North coach Brian Johnson said. Johnson noted the Knights came out at the start against Vernon Hills with some intensity and finished the game the same way. “However, we had some lulls in the middle,” he said. “This week, we are going to need to play the whole game and not have a letdown. We need to be more efficient in the pass game. We did not pass the ball the way we had planned. We definitely need to establish the pass game this week and help keep the defense off the field.” Johnson added senior offensive lineman Ethan Roedl “graded out really well last week,” he said. “I am happy with how he has stepped up and is becoming a leader of the linemen.” Elgin, out of the Upstate Eight Conference West Division, opened the season with a 6-point win over UEC East entrant Fenton. The Maroons were 2-7 in 2024.

Grayslake Central (0-1) at Bremen (0-1)

When: Friday, 7 p.m., Bremen High School, Midlothian

Last week: Carmel 52, Grayslake Central 13; Chicago Taft 20, Bremen 0

Last year: Grayslake Central 14, Bremen 13

Worth noting: The Rams will head just over an hour south down I-294 to Midlothian for this nonconference game. Central coach Brent Pearlman saw plenty he liked even though the Rams lost their opener to Carmel a week ago. “We had several opportunities we did not take advantage of,” he said. “We always try to treat the first game of every season as a chance to learn who we are as a football team. I saw some very positive things and some things we clearly need to work on. We need to play more disciplined football and take the coaching. We need to play every play full speed and execute, and we need to play our techniques regardless of the situation.” Central had 3 punts blocked, two that came within its own 30-yard line. “That really hurt us,” he said. “This was a clear breakdown of fundamentals and goes back to playing the technique that was coached during the week. I told our guys after the game and I truly believe there is a good team amongst us, but we have to make it happen. Our guys have worked extremely hard and we are definitely capable, but we have to seize the moment and execute. That will be the message all week and if we do I think we will see a very different result.” Bremen plays in the South Suburban Conference Blue Division with the likes of the Thornton Fractional schools, Hillcrest, Lemont, Oak Forest and Tinley Park. The Braves went 0-9 last season.

Grant (1-0) at Glenbrook North (1-0)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.; Glenbrook North High School, Northbrook

Last week: Grant 42, Mundelein 13; Glenbrook North 21, Lakes 13

Last year: Grant 34, Glenbrook North 28

Worth noting: Grant opened on a high note last week against Mundelein. “We were able to play fast and physical,” Bulldogs coach Tim Norwood said. “I liked that our defense was swarming to the ball and created 4 turnovers. The defense creating 4 takeaways was really good to see. We need to be more disciplined. We had too many penalties in Week 1.” Tyler Zdon scored 4 touchdowns in the win. He ran for 142 yards on 14 carries with 3 rushing touchdowns and caught 2 passes for 75 yards and 1 touchdown. Quarterback Matthew Gipson was 9-for-12 for 162 yards and the 1 TD. “Matthew took care of the ball and was efficient in running the offense,” Norwood said. Junior corner Tyler Crutchfield had 4 pass breakups. Glenbrook North, out of the Central Suburban Conference South Division, went 2-7 a year ago.

Maine South (0-1) at Warren Township (1-0)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Warren Township O’Plaine Campus, Gurnee

Last week: Warren 43, Hersey 36; Lincoln-Way East 40, Maine South 0

Last year: Maine South 35, Warren 18

Worth noting: The annual battle of two powerhouse programs shifts to Gurnee where the Blue Devils are coming off a big Week 1 win against Hersey where University of Illinois commit Aaron Stewart ran for 438 yards. To put that into perspective, Stewart ran for nearly 2,500 yards in 12 games last year and already cut into 18% of that total in 1 game. “Obviously, Aaron running for more than 400 yards played a key role, but the rest of the team showed a ton of toughness,” Warren coach Bryan McNulty said. “That Hersey team is very good and will win a ton of games this year. I thought our kids showed a ton of toughness and resilience at Hersey. To be down by 2 scores on the road is never easy, but our kids battled and really executed when they needed to.” However, McNulty said the Blue Devils have plenty to work on. “We can get better at everything,” he said. “We made a ton of errors in all 3 phases. We did not play our best football last Friday night. We were sloppy in coverage, tackling and throw-game execution. We also made a ton of errors in the kicking game. We will need to be significantly better this Friday.” Stewart has now rushed twice for 400-plus yards in Week 1 games. “That is impressive,” McNulty said. Senior offensive-defensive linemen Vic Drake and Jordan Ellis also had big games. “Vic had a huge strip and fumble recovery on the goal line that changed the entire game,” McNulty said. “It is not easy to play both ways on the offensive and defensive line, but those two did a great job.” McNulty added senior defensive lineman Cayden Janczewski also played well. Maine South, a perennial power in Class 8A, was shutout in Week 1 by a Lincoln-Way East team that went 12-1 last season.

Wheaton North (1-0) at Stevenson (0-1)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.; Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire

Last week: Prospect 28, Stevenson 18; Wheaton North 34, Chicago Simeon 20

Last year: Did not play

Worth noting: The Patriots battled in last week’s nonconference loss to Prospect. “Credit to Prospect in our Week 1 contest,” Stevenson coach Brent Becker said. “We have to improve in all phases, but field position is an area of emphasis this week. I like that our kids battled to the end, cut it 3 with a chance to recover an onside kick, but ultimately we didn’t make enough plays to win.” Wheaton North, which won by 2 scores against Simeon last week, plays out of the competitive DuKane Conference and is coming off a 4-5 season.

Naperville North (0-1) at Libertyville (1-0)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Last week: Libertyville 24, Lemont 14; New Trier 20, Naperville North 14

Last year: Did not play

Worth noting: The Wildcats got down 7-0 early and then scored 24 unanswered points against Lemont. “We showed a lot of composure and grit,” Libertyville coach Tim Budge said. “After we settled in, we did a nice job of moving the ball offensively, played solid defense and did a great job on special teams. As in any year, we look to make improvements from Week 1 to Week 2.” Kicker Jack Zaban set a school record with 3 field goals (24, 36 and 29 yards), had a punt of 73 yards and had 3 touchbacks on kickoffs. Inside linebacker Erich Waldorf had 9 solo tackles, 5 assists and 3 tackles for loss. Nick Ori had a 74-yard touchdown reception and a pick on defense. Brock Williams caught 4 passes for 83 yards, while Carson Holmes had 2 quarterback hurries. “Our goal is to be a little more consistent in running the football and being more consistent in stopping the run on defense,” Budge said. “If we can do that, we will do well moving forward. We also are looking to be a little more efficient in our substitutions on special teams.” Southwest Valley Conference rep Naperville North is coming off a 7-3 Class 8A playoff season in 2024.

Other Lake County Games

Carmel Catholic (1-0) at Lake Forest (1-0), 7:30 p.m.

Niles West (0-1) at Mundelein (0-1), 7 p.m.

Wauconda (1-0) at Maine West (1-0), 6:30 p.m.