Fremd Bears down at Lake Zurich behind dominating defense

The sign hanging from the rail in Lake Zurich’s packed student section offered a three-word warning Friday night.

BEARS MEAN BUSINESS.

Fremd apparently took it personally.

The Vikings brought plenty of business of their own to Mel Eide Field, opening the football season with a 20-0 victory behind junior quarterback Will Clark and a defense that spent much of the warm evening making life miserable for Lake Zurich.

“Our defense played lights out,” Fremd coach Lou Sponsel said.

Lights out indeed.

Fremd (1-0), a Class 8A state semifinalist last fall, limited Lake Zurich (0-1) to 27 first-half yards while Clark directed an offense that piled up 209 before halftime. The junior completed 14 of 24 passes for 213 yards and scored on an 11-yard run in the third quarter.

“He showed great composure,” senior wide receiver Carter MacDonald said.

Clark spread the wealth. MacDonald caught five passes for 64 yards, junior Ben Riddle added four receptions for 59 yards, and junior MJ Castelloni caught four for 55.

“He had an amazing game,” Sponsel said of last year’s backup quarterback. “Will made great throws and great decisions all night.”

Fremd senior Shea Sloan kicked field goals of 22 and 39 yards, but the play that best captured the evening belonged to senior linebacker Tom O’Brien.

O’Brien picked up a Lake Zurich fumble at the line of scrimmage and raced 19 yards for a second-quarter touchdown.

His postgame description was considerably shorter than his return.

“Scoop and score,” O’Brien said, grinning.

Fremd’s defense kept scooping, stopping and generally spoiling the debut of first-year Lake Zurich coach Dragan Teonic. Senior defensive end George Kalkounos recorded a sack on the final play of the first half and recovered another fumble after intermission.

Junior defensive back Matt Dwulf broke up a pass at the goal line on Lake Zurich’s final possession to preserve the shutout.

The Bears, coming off a 9-3 season and Class 6A quarterfinal appearance, got an interception from junior Jackson Lewandowski. Sophomore backup quarterback Benji Ferguson completed seven of 14 passes for 46 yards.

“We didn’t execute very well,” Teonic said. “But our defense battled extremely hard. We’re young and inexperienced.

“Credit has to go to Fremd and some of the blame to me. We’ll get better. We’ll be a much better team by the end of the season.”

Fremd went 11-2 last season and defeated Lake Zurich 35-3 in Week 1. The Vikings have now won two straight in a series Lake Zurich leads 12-7.

O’Brien says Fremd entered the opener intent on establishing “a new Fremd identity.”

Sponsel’s Vikings certainly made a convincing first impression.

“Back to work, back to the film room,” Sponsel said after praising his squad’s efforts on both sides of the ball.

Business.

Vikings business.