Warren run game finally clicks against Lake Forest

Warren's offense seems simple enough. Just take turns handing off to fullback Tom Lindal and halfback Nolan Sordyl, running up the middle behind a huge offensive line.

"You would think so. But the whole year, it's just been one mistake here, one penalty here, one missed block, one missed assignment," Sordyl said.

Coach Dave Mohapp felt the Blue Devils finally got things right in Friday's 28-13 victory over visiting Lake Forest in a North Suburban Lake clash.

Lindal gained 145 yards on 19 carries, while Sordyl had 111 yards on 21 attempts. Linebacker Gary Eppinger stepped over to fullback and ran for 2 touchdowns, of 38 yards and 1 yard, on his first two carries of the season.

"It looked like the offense was in rhythm for the first time here," Mohapp said. "It took us six weeks and I don't know if we can build on it. I hope we can. We were able to throw the ball a little bit, we were able to distribute the ball to the two running backs. I thought our line played good."

After scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final 1:32 of the first half, Warren led 21-0 at the break and seemed ready to keep building on its first drive of the third quarter.

But Lake Forest defensive back Connor Cavalaris stepped in front of a pass and returned it 71 yards for a touchdown that gave the Scouts some life.

Lake Forest's defense came alive to stop the next three Warren drives without a first down. When Jacob Hellinga caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Paul Carollo, the Scouts were within 21-13 with 8:37 remaining in the game.

That was as close as it would get. After the ensuing kickoff, the Blue Devils marched 80 yards in 10 plays and Lindal's 22-yard scoring run sealed the outcome with 4:04 remaining.

For Lake Forest, this game was about a series of frustrating mistakes. An illegal block wiped out a 45-yard pass play on its first possession. A 15-play drive was stymied in the second quarter when Warren's Jovan DuBose recorded a sack for a 12-yard loss after the Scouts reached the 12-yard line.

After Warren (4-2, 2-1) scored to make it 14-0 late in the first half, Lake Forest took over on its own 10-yard line following the kickoff. Instead of trying to run the final 1:32 off the clock, the Scouts threw 3 incomplete passes and punted, allowing the Devils to tack on Lindal's 1-yard touchdown run with 2.1 seconds remaining that made it 21-0.

Lake Forest (4-2, 2-2) switched quarterbacks on every possession. Carollo completed 12 of 18 passes for 189 yards.