Stevenson stays focused

It was homecoming at Stevenson on Friday night, and with that comes plenty of distractions.

From the celebrations throughout the week to the big dance at the end of it - plenty of ways to make a football player's mind wander.

So when the Patriots took a 34-0 lead midway through the second quarter against visiting Lake Forest on Friday night, it seemed like the biggest distraction for the football team was what time the dance started on Saturday.

Lake Forest refused to go along with the Patriots' plans but still could get no closer than two scores as the Patriots held off the Scouts 41-20 in a key North Suburban Lake Division contest.

Stevenson (5-0, 3-0) remains perfect ahead of its Lake Division showdown at unbeaten Lake Zurich next week. Lake Forest suffered its first loss and fell to 4-1 overall, 2-1 in league play.

"We definitely lost some of our intensity," said Stevenson senior linebacker Brion Wood. "You could see kids with homecoming thinking of tomorrow night. But I definitely give Lake Forest a lot of credit. They made some great adjustments and got back in to the game."

Lake Forest had to come back after the Patriots came out hitting on all cylinders in the first quarter.

Stevenson held Lake Forest to just 10 offensive plays in the opening quarter and 6 yards from scrimmage. Offensively, Joe Cassata and the Patriot offense executed almost perfectly.

Cassata, who rushed for 102 yards on 21 carries, opened the scoring on a 4-yard burst. An interception by Carl Miller two plays later set up a 4-yard scoring run from Kevin Foley, and Stevenson had a 14-0 cushion with 5:16 remaining in the opening quarter.

"We came out and everything seemed to be clicking on both offense and defense," Stevenson coach Bill McNamara said. "We hit (Lake Forest) with the pass and run and defensively we took it away."

Stevenson built its margin to 34-0 with 5:40 to go in the first half before Lake Forest responded.

A 57-yard scoring strike from PJ Carollo to Owen Williams not only gave the Scouts their first points, but just their second first down of the night. The score sparked the visitors to the tune of 20 unanswered points.

"We let (Stevenson) get up on us, and defensively we never got off the field," said Lake Forest coach Chuck Spagnoli. "We played about as poorly as we could play I think and Stevenson played well. That stuff happens, but I like how we battled and kept after it."

A 1-yard run from Williams with 3:46 to go in the third quarter got the Scouts within 34-20 but turnovers on each of their next two possessions, including an interception at the goal line by Stevenson junior Troy Radtke and another interception by Dominykas Bickus, sealed the win for the Patriots.