Cavanaugh charges ahead

Zach Cavanaugh loves being on the field he never left Friday afternoon.

The Christian Liberty senior didn't enjoy being on the wrong end of another lopsided score - a 42-0 Northeastern Athletic Conference loss to visiting CICS-Longwood in Arlington Heights. But Cavanaugh also understands it's all part of the process in the school's first year of varsity football.

''It gets frustrating,'' said Cavanaugh, who is playing with his brothers Nate (junior) and Trevor (freshman). ''But I love football. We're pioneers. We're starters.''

The running back-linebacker also came up with his share of finishes with 12 tackles. He combined with David Sotomayor to stuff one Longwood (3-0, 3-0) posession inside its 20 in the second half and had a big stuff late in the game for a 4-yard loss.

Cavanaugh also gained 12 yards on his first 2 carries and finished with 16 yards on 7 attempts.

"Kids are hitting lower and hitting the legs and tackling low,'' Cavanaugh said. "We were getting better blocks, hitting the holes harder and just moving a lot faster. I know we're getting there.''

Facing three of the new league's top teams hasn't made it any easier for the Chargers (0-3, 0-3). Longwood scored on all six of its first-half possessions as Robert Goggins (7 carries, 161 yards) had 3 touchdowns and Anthony Garrison (7 carries, 75 yards) had two.

''They always come off-tackle but they're a very powerful team and we got overpowered,'' said Christian Liberty coach Jim Kaulkins. ''There are a lot of things we have to work on still. Very basic things.''

But the Chargers hope facing the competition they have makes those basics better down the road. Once again there were bright spots such as Will Garcia's fumble recovery, Dan Glad's toughness at quarterback and linebacker and a nice first-half grab by freshman receiver John Dulinsky.

"We were getting pumped up a little more and getting a little more aggressive,'' Kaulkins said.