Stevenson holds off Mundelein, gets first win of the season

With some great sprinter speed in his arsenal, Stevenson sophomore running back Mlakhai Agee was really hoping that his team could pick up their first victory of the 2026 season Friday night at Mundelein.

And while the game was a close struggle pretty much the whole way, the Patriots did just that as they posted a 27-20 North Suburban Conference victory to prevent the Mustangs from beating them for the first time since 1988.

"Our theme this week was anything it takes so our goal was to come over here and find a way to win a football game and we found a way to get the job done," said Stevenson coach Brent Becker, whose team is 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the NSC.

"I'm super proud of our kids. We've had a good amount of adversity so far this year, and it was really cool to watch them respond and stick together."

The second of two short field goals by Ryan Tarr gave Stevenson a 27-13 lead very early in the fourth quarter. But Mundelein (3-2, 1-2) responded with a 1-yard touchdown run by Sladen Poutre to cut the lead to 27-20 with 3:38 to play.

The Mustangs tried an onside kick to get a chance for another scoring drive, but the attempt failed and the Patriots were able to run out the clock.

"The team that executed more tonight won, and we had a costly turnover on special teams and a bad punt that gave them good field position," said Mundelein coach Johnny Cowhey.

"Those are all of the little things that make a difference in close games, but I was proud of the effort. We were down 14, we fought the whole time, and that is why I like coaching these guys because they fight all of the time and this will be a great game to learn from."

The Patriots came out strong as a 25-yard TD pass from Eli Sigal to Brandon Hersh made the score 7-0. Agee had a big first half with 98 yards on nine carries, including a five-yard TD run for an early 14-0 lead. But Agee never returned to the game in the second half due to a minor knee injury according to Becker.

Mundelein's Tyler Johnson was 9-for-18 for 81 yards passing, including a 34-yard TD pass to Jackson Rejczyk to get the Mustangs on the scoreboard. Mundelein's Daniel Felli (52 yards on four rushes) broke a tackle and raced 42 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 14-13 late in the second quarter. Stevenson's Luke Clark opened the second-half scoring with a six-yard TD catch.

"I'm so happy about this win. We put in all this work just to get this win so I'm happy about that," said Agee. "I gave my all. You have to execute, and I'm happy that my team was able to get the win without me (in the second half)."