Lake Zurich toes the line against Elk Grove
On Friday, 11-11-11, Lake Zurich's football team learned its starting 11 on offense would feature, by coach Bryan Stortz's count, its 11th different line.
The Bears had no eleventh-hour panic, however, even though No. 11, Steven Kuhn, would be making his second straight start at quarterback in place of injured Zach Till.
The numbers, after all, typically favor the Bears at this time of the year.
What, like a trio of lost fumbles was going to mess up Lake Zurich's Boys of November?
“We've had a lot of different things happen, adversity-wise, with different kids being hurt and banged up,” Stortz said after his Bears beat Elk Grove 17-10 in a Class 7A state quarterfinal in sunny Lake Zurich on Saturday.
“Early in the year, you're frustrated. But it almost helps (later in the season). We've gone through some adverse situations in games, but we've already gone through some things during the season.”
It's a season that continues for No. 8 Lake Zurich (10-2), which makes it fifth semifinal appearance in six years when it next travels to No. 2 Rockford Boylan (12-0) for a likely Saturday matinee.
“We put a lot of hard work into it, and we got a lot of tradition on this team,” Lake Zurich junior nose guard Rocky Triggiano said. “Work hard. Play hard. The results take care of themselves.”
A defensive effort that yielded just 85 rushing yards and what a smiling Stortz called an “efficient” outing by Kuhn (4-of-4 passing, 57 yards) helped Lake Zurich deny No. 4 Elk Grove (10-2) its 11th win.
“They were good,” Grenadiers linebacker/running back Stefan Skonecza said of the Bears. “They knew what to do, and they fought their butts off. We just didn't have an answer for it.”
Lake Zurich junior Jerry Bauer returned from missing about a month with mono and started at offensive guard in place of sophomore Noah Allgood, who came up with strep throat during the week and was ruled out Friday.
But while Elk Grove struggled to move the ball against Lake Zurich, the same was true for the Bears' offense against the Grenadiers.
Neither team mustered a first down in the opening quarter.
“They're the best team I've seen this year,” Elk Grove coach Brian Doll said of Lake Zurich. “I give a lot of credit to how fast they are (on defense). They work to the ball extremely well. They're well coached.”
Lake Zurich was determined not to get beat by the feet of Elk Grove's Dejan Basara. The senior, who returned to quarterback at the start of the playoffs after breaking his collarbone in midseason, had not thrown a pass since Week 4.
“We knew we had to throw him today, especially when you see them in the first half loading up the box, ” Doll said. “We had to try to loosen them up by throwing the ball. We didn't know if we were going to be able to run the ball real well with them stacking the box. We tried passing with (Adam O'Malley) in the second quarter, and (Lake Zurich) did a good job.”
Kevin Bellew's interception of an O'Malley pass led to Mike Leiva's 27-yard field goal that broke a scoreless tie with 9:55 left before halftime.
Lake Zurich manufactured a nine-play, 69-yard scoring drive to go up 10-0 with 45 seconds left in the half. Kuhn, on a fake counter pass, found Minnesota-bound Jack Lynn uncovered in the end zone from 12 yards out.
“We practiced that all week, and Coach waited for the right time to call it,” Kuhn said. “My line gave me a ton of time. I saw Jack streaking down the field without any safety and I was like, ‘I got to get this guy the ball.'”
Elk Grove finally dented Lake Zurich's defense when Basara kicked a 27-yard field goal on the Grenadiers' opening possession of the second half.
The score remained 10-3 until a 53-yard run by Lake Zurich's Mike Shield (20 carries, 107 yards) set up Kuhn's score on a keeper from 3 yards out with 3:08 left in the fourth.
Basara went 7 of 11 for 59 yards on a 15-play drive that ended with him tossing a 3-yard TD pass to Darren Little with 28 seconds to go.
“He's a really fast guy,” Triggiano said of Basara. “He's good at reading the defensive line.”
Basara finished 14-of-22 passing for 111 yards. He also rushed 28 times for 74 yards. The QB/linebacker/kicker/long snapper had a sack and fumble recovery, too.
“He's a tough player,” Stortz said. “You watch him on film, but he's more impressive in person. He was taking some big hits and kept getting back up. He's one of the kids that every coach would love to have.”
When Elk Grove's onside kick kicked out of bounds following Basara's TD pass to Little, Lake Zurich had secured its 19th postseason win since 2006, while ending the Grenadiers' best campaign since it went 11-1 in 2004.
“We fought, but we just came out on the wrong end,” Skonecza said. “We fought as hard as we could.”