Lakes hoping Zell takes his toll

In its short history, Lakes has shown that being tall is no prerequisite to excel at football.

The Lake Villa school hired a former Chicago St. Patrick linebacker to be its first head coach, and Luke Mertens, who played bigger than his 5-foot-9 frame, has taken the Eagles to the state playoffs twice in five seasons, including last year.

A year ago, Lakes kept handing off the football to 5-6, 155-pound Andrew Tubek, and all the little speedster did was rush for 1,321 yards and 15 touchdowns. He's now playing at Elmhurst College.

"Our biggest loss," Mertens said, "is Tubek."

This year, say hello to James Zell. The senior running back is listed at 5-6 and 165 pounds.

"He's the same height (as Tubek), but thicker," Mertens said. "We breed them small here at Lakes High School."

Zell could have one heck of a year.

"James Zell was neck-and-neck with Tubek last year to be our starting running back," Mertens said. "Due to some disciplinary issues, we had to remove him from the team."

Because Zell missed two practices last year, Mertens dropped him from the roster, but Zell never missed a practiced. He never pouted.

Now, his patience and persistence could pay off.

"We don't expect him to replace Tubek," Mertens said. "But we're also very confident that (Tubek's position) is not going to be as big a hole (to fill) as people think."

Lakes also has a new quarterback after last year's starter, Nick Hibbing, who threw for nearly 1,000 yards, decided to focus on baseball this fall. Jeff Eder has been a QB in the Eagles' system for four years, starting as a freshman, splitting time with Hibbing on the sophomore team and then backing up Hibbing on varsity last season.

Mertens has all the confidence in the world in Eder. "Outside of the coaches, he knows the offense better than anybody else does," Mertens said. "Very smart player."

The Eagles, who pass about as much as they run, return all four of their wideouts in Josh Pohlman, Mike Hough, Mike Pfeiffer and Nick Tognocchi. Tanner Blain will rotate with Pohlman, who will play both ways.

The line returns Corbin Buege, Dan Pawlak and Nate Pomorin.

A huge plus is the return of kicker Mike Beckman, whose 13 field goals last year shattered the Lake County record by four.

"He was a weapon last year, and this year he's added 15 yards to his field goals," Mertens said. "He shortens the field drastically for us."

The returning starters on defense are linemen John Pfeiffer (Mike's big brother) and Brandon Grant, linebacker Devin Grote, safety Donte Arnold. Linebackers Scott Hennelly and Brody Griffin didn't start but played a lot.

"Defensively, our goal is always to stop the run," Mertens said. "Obviously every team in our conference is really physical and really good at running the football. You got to be able to stop the run to even have a shot. We feel like we got some guys in place to be able to help us do that."

LAKES

Probable starters

OFFENSE

Pos. Name Ht/Wt Yr.

QB Jeff Eder 5-11/175 Sr.

RB James Zell 5-6/165 Sr.

WR Mike Hough 5-11/162 Sr.

WR Michael Pfeiffer 6-0/190 Jr.

T Jake Meeks 6-2/265 Jr.

G Corbin Buege 6-2/240 Sr.

C Parker Blain 6-1/205 Sr.

G Nate Pomorin 6-2/220 Sr.

T Dan Pawlak 6-5/235 Jr.

WR Josh Pohlman 6-2/170 Sr.

or Tanner Blain 6-0/170 Jr.

WR Nick Tognocchi 5-9/165 Sr.

DEFENSE

Pos. Name Ht/Wt Yr.

DL Bill Fell 6-1/205 Sr.

DL Brandon Grant 6-0/230 Sr.

DL John Pfeiffer 6-4/245 Sr.

DL Mike Forney 6-0/270 Jr.

LB Scott Hennelly 6-1/190 Sr.

LB Devin Grote 6-0/210 Sr.

LB Tyler Menheer 5-10/185 Sr.

LB Brody Griffin 6-2/185 Sr.

CB Troy Crow 5-10/170 So.

S Donte Arnold 5-11/175 Jr.

CB Josh Pohlman 6-2/170 Sr.