Lake Park duo paves way for lopsided win over Glenbard South

Six-foot-8 Lake Park tackle Charles Booker has the blindside potential that Division I coaches dream of when constructing their offensive line.

Prior to completing his first full season of varsity football, the 295-pound Lancer junior picked up a Division I offer from Kansas State this past summer.

With Louisville, Cincinnati and Minnesota interested, scouts all throughout the Midwest have been asking themselves the same question — How does his enormous potential translate to game film?

Booker provided some answers on Friday, paving the way for Lake Park as they claimed a 41-6 homecoming victory over Glenbard South in front of a packed house on their blue turf.

“We put all the work in the weight room,” Booker said. “Coming out here on the field every day so these things we prepare for. Nothing new for us with practice all day, every day. When we get on the goal line there, there's no fear in our eyes. We are going to push them back however far we need to to get the touchdown.”

It was an important win for the Lancers, as it evens their early season record at 1-1 heading into the DuKane Conference grind.

Playoff expansion is the new reality in IHSA football and, for the Lancers, it means that three wins could clinch their first postseason appearance since 2017--and perhaps their first playoff win since 2009.

But for Booker and fellow Lancers road grader Joshua Miller, a 6-foot-4 junior who tips the scales at 310 pounds and is generating Division I interest of his own, all that matters is gradual improvement.

While the varsity Lancers finished 3-6 a year ago, this dominating duo primarily played together on an 8-1 sophomore group and beat both conference powerhouses Batavia and Geneva.

Lancers athletic director Peter Schauer is excited about the potential of this young group, and would love to see them learn from the experience of playing in a 10th game later this fall.

He mentioned that last year was the first time that both Lake Park freshman and sophomore teams were able to knock off the Bulldogs in the same season since joining the DuKane.

“Well, we feel like we're building a program, but varsity football is a different animal,” Lake Park coach Chris Kirkpatrick said. “We talk about that a lot. So this team knows how to compete. So regardless of the wins or the losses at the lower levels, you just want to see competitive games where people are playing four quarters. And two years in a row, we've been able to do that at the lower level. So, yeah, we're really hoping that translates this year and next year.”

Back on the recruiting trail, the natural question scouts have for both Lake Park juniors centers around the hallmark of any great linemen: footwork and motor.

Against the Raiders, the off-season hype looked real.

Booker and Miller helped guide an explosive Lancers offense to 34-first half points.

They protected senior quarterback Tay’Sean Smith as he found junior speedster TJ Ogunribido from 47 yards out to make it 13-0 midway through the first quarter.

Following a 12-for-21, 188-yard, 2-TD performance against Plainfield North in Week 1, Smith earned the statistic that he truly cares about — a varsity win.

Prior to his touchdown Friday, Ogunribido had 80 yards in the season opener as he proves to be Smith’s favorite target.

The Lake Park defense was opportunistic as they intercepted a pair of Tommy Bauman passes to set up Smith in the redzone.

Smith got in behind his line to punch in two scores before intermission.

He also found junior Drew D’Alessandro, who scored a touchdown last week, to set up a second half Lancers score tonight that put this game away.

“Tay'sean Smith is a really exciting player, a quarterback,” Kirkpatrick said. “And we had a lot of new players on offense, who, I think, really hit their stride of varsity football tonight. So hopefully we can carry that in the DuKane Conference play.”

It's all cheers in Lancerland after Week 2. Now it's time to find out if they are ready to start climbing the DuKane.