Libertyville tops N. Chicago, secures playoff berth

With the Class 7A football playoffs in sight, visiting Libertyville needed to further motivation in pursuit of win No. 6 on Friday night at North Chicago.

And the Wildcats got the job done as they jumped out to a commanding 24-0 lead after one quarter before ultimately rolling to a 51-8 North Suburban Conference crossover victory against the Warhawks.

Libertyville (6-2) clinched a berth to the state playoffs for the second time in three years as it led 37-6 at halftime, and 51-6 over North Chicago (0-8) after three quarters.

After taking a 2-0 lead on a safety just 10 seconds into the contest, junior quarterback Riley Lees got the Wildcats' offense rolling on their first possession.

A 29-yard keeper by Lees (3 carries for 51 yards) put the ball on the North Chicago 18 before Lees faked a hand-off and scored on a 16-yard run five plays later. Lees also ran in the 2-point conversion to give Libertyville a quick 10-0 advantage.

The Warhawks' second possession went badly, as Libertyville defensive back Jack Neal intercepted a pass by Damond Washington on third down before Neal went 12 yards for the touchdown. The extra point by kicker John Lubenow made the score 17-0 with 7:44 left in the first quarter.

The Wildcats' running game was once again very effective as Lees pulled off another fake hand-off before scoring on a 6-yard keeper for a 24-0 lead with 4:34 remaining in the opening quarter.

North Chicago could not solve Libertyville's ground attack in the early going as senior running back Sean Ferraro (76 yards on 13 rushes) scored on a 6-yard TD run up the middle to cap a 9-play, 77-yard drive to boost the lead to 31-0 with 7:11 left in the second quarter.

"Our offensive line was struggling a little bit at the beginning, but they picked it up and it ended up being a big night in the backfield," said Ferraro. "We're getting better every week, that is what coach (Mike) Jones wants us to do and I strongly believe we can beat anybody if we do that."

A line-drive punt by North Chicago's Jonathan Coleman was definitely not what the doctor ordered after the Warhawks' next possession.

Libertyville senior Nick Rossetti took full advantage of that punt as he caught the ball at his own 39 before racing 61 yards for the touchdown and a 37-0 lead.

North Chicago did respond to that score, as JaJuan Harris returned the ensuing kickoff 79 yards for the touchdown to make the score 37-6 just under four minutes before halftime.

"We came out of the gate pretty good, and outside of the special team mistake we did well," said Jones, whose team closes out the regular season against top-ranked Stevenson. "A lot of guys in off-season meetings talked about that (playoffs) being one of our goals, but these guys are not satisfied by any means."

Junior Jake Mansfield (4-for-5, 87 yards) took over the reigns at quarterback late in the second quarter. But a bad snap prevented Lubenow from potentially booting a 25-yard field goal very late in the period.

Leading 37-6 in some rainy, windy conditions, Mansfield led the Wildcats on a 7-play, 63-yard drive to open the second half.

A 31-yard pass play to Ferraro on third down was followed by a 13-yard TD pass to junior teammate Tim Calamari wide open in the right corner of the end zone four plays later as Libertyville extended its lead to 44-6.

Then after numerous penalties by North Chicago when the Warhawks had to punt deep in their own territory, the Wildcats took over at the 14-yard-line.

This time, Mansfield found junior teammate Henry Schmidt in the right corner of the end zone for a 10-yard TD pass as the contest was played with a running clock from 3:51 in the third quarter on.

Short-handed North Chicago, which only had 20 players in uniform for the contest got a safety with about three minutes to play to account for the final score.

Senior Taylor Rossmann had 52 yard rushing for the Cats on 12 carries while Lees was 1-for-4 passing for 35 yards in limited action.

"That (limited action) was just our decision, he (Lees) is perfectly healthy, and we just made that decision," said Jones. "We worked on some things we wanted to work on tonight and traditionally it's a good rivalry between us and Stevenson and we're going to give it our best shot."

Isaiah Washington led North Chicago with 62 yards rushing on 15 carries while teammate Diamond Butler had 59 yards on 6 attempts, all in the fourth quarter.