Lynn, Lake Zurich tighten up Lake race
A few of Jack Lynn’s thick dreadlocks somehow poked themselves through the small holes atop his Lake Zurich football helmet, giving the look of antennae.
It wasn’t the Minnesota-bound Lynn’s greatest feat, nor his team’s, however.
More amazing was that Lake Zurich overcame three lost fumbles and a bad snap on a punt deep in its own territory to knock off the first-place team in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division.
That the Bears won — 16-6 over visiting Lake Forest on a breezy homecoming Friday night — wasn’t so amazing considering they’re used to winning when autumn rolls in.
In clinching its 10th straight playoff berth, Lake Zurich (6-2, 4-1) moved into a three-way tie for first place in the NSC Lake with Lake Forest (6-2, 4-1) and Stevenson (6-2, 4-1). Lake Zurich hosts Zion-Benton (3-5, 1-4) next Friday, while Lake Forest visits Libertyville (5-3, 3-2) and Stevenson plays at home against Mundelein (0-8, 0-5).
“This is a very big win for us,” Lynn said after Lake Zurich snapped short-handed Lake Forest’s six-game winning streak. “But we got to get to the drawing board (today), and we got to get to work. It was an ugly win.”
Lake Forest, which played without quarterback Jordan Beck (elbow) and wide receiver Bo Dever (ACL), struggled to move the ball against Lake Zurich’s swarming defense. The Scouts trailed only 9-6 late in the fourth, but Lake Zurich got the insurance touchdown it needed when quarterback Zach Till completed a pass over the middle to Lynn. Lynn broke away from a would-be tackle and sped into the end zone for a catch-and-run TD that covered 49 yards.
“I just put it up there and he did the rest,” Till said of Lynn’s only reception and just his sixth catch all season (3 TDs). “He’s a great receiver. He’s a great player.”
“It all started up front,” Lynn said. “Zach had great protection and he gave me a nice ball.”
Lake Zurich held Lake Forest star running back Owen Williams to 47 yards on 18 carries, and the Scouts failed to score a touchdown in a game for the first time this season.
Lynn’s sack late in the fourth quarter on third-and-9 from the Lake Zurich 34 sealed Lake Forest’s fate.
“Last week was tough,” Lynn said of the Bears’ 24-17 loss to Stevenson. “We really preached in practice tougher defense down the stretch, late in the game. We came out and accomplished that.”
Will Hussey and Rocky Triggiano also had sacks for the Bears, while sophomore defensive back Sean Lynch intercepted a pass.
Scouts QB Andrew Clifford completed 12 of 25 passes for 106 yards.
“He wasn’t exactly sitting back there (in the pocket) and eating Doritos,” Lake Forest coach Chuck Spagnoli said. “He had some serious pressure on him. Andrew was not the problem tonight.”
Lake Forest had gone up 6-0 early on field goals of 27 and 26 yards from Baylor Broughton. A lost fumble and the high punt snap, which put the ball at the LZ 5, set up both field goals.
After Mike Leiva drilled a 24-yard field goal to cut Lake Zurich’s deficit in half, Till busted off a 39-yard touchdown run. He used a cutback move to cover the final 15 yards with 9:59 left before halftime.
“I cut back and (wide receiver) John Orlando had an awesome block,” Till said. “He set that up for me.”
Mike Shield rushed for 109 yards for Lake Zurich, which won despite not playing its best.
“We can play better than that,” Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz said. “We need to play better at this time of the year. The upside is, we know we can.”