Plenty for Lake Zurich to like about opening win

Lake Zurich coach Ron Planz had plenty to like coming out of his team's 21-7 season-opening win against Fremd.

"I thought we played hard, didn't have many mental errors and handled the normal ups and downs of a football game well," he said. "I thought our defense tackled well and our offensive line had some good movement against Fremd's big front."

Planz said penalties need to be reduced and Lake Zurich also left some scoring changes on the field. "We need to do a better job of getting off the field on third down, defensively and scoring when we have the opportunity," he said. "Those things can haunt you later in the season if you don't get them fixed."

Planz noted all Lake Zurich's points came from big plays, "so we lost the time of possession battle," he said.

Senior Tyler Erkman also had quite the eventful night with 2 tackles, a pick and a fumble recovery at defensive back and snared three passes for 86 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown reception on the first play of the game.

Senior Collin Bryne had 5 tackles and recorded 3 quarterback sacks on the defensive line and also played every offensive snap at guard, Planz pointed out.

Grayslake Central update: Of its 8 possessions against Chicago Hubbard, Central recorded touchdowns on seven of them.

"We were efficient offensively," Rams coach Mike Maloney said. "Our kickoff coverage unit was both disciplined and physical. Defensively, we pitched our first shutout (47-0) in more than a decade. The defensive front was aggressive and violent all night and our defensive backs were tremendous in run support."

Maloney said unforced penalties will need to be eliminated. "Our boys need a greater understanding of alignments and motions to execute better. Our verbal communication on the field wasn't adequate offensively. Our defensive secondary will need to play more soundly in their drops to limit an opposing offense's big-play potential."

Maloney noted Jaydin Kante was a key asset on kickoffs as well as on defense where he had 6 tackles and earned 1 1/2 quarterback sacks.

"Jaydin had a tremendous day kicking off as well as defensively," Maloney said.

Matty Jens was also a defensive notable with 4 solo tackles out of his middle linebacker slot. "Matty commanded the defense," Maloney noted.

Warren update: Even in a 41-7 nonconference win over Barrington, Warren coach Bryan McNulty saw some aspects that need to be taken to the next level.

"We need to work on everything," he said. "Our film showed plenty of mistakes. Considering it was Week 1, I thought our kids played hard, but we need to clean up a lot of fundamental mistakes."

McNulty had high praise for quarterback Adam Behrens' body of work against Barrington. "Adam really stood out," he said. "He has great composure and is a winner."

Also drawing high marks was wideout Taylen Curry.

Libertyville update: In a 5-point nonconference loss to Lemont, the Wildcats were 19 of 30 passing as a team for 389 yards and 4 touchdowns with sophomore quarterback Quinn Schambow going 12-for-18 for 293 of those yards and threw all 4 TD passes.

His favorite target was Kristian Gavric, who has 6 receptions, two of which went for scores.

Stevenson update: Patriots coach Brent Becker gave a comprehensive debrief coming out of his team's 42-3 loss in Park Ridge to perennial power Maine South on the road.

"We want to run the ball better," he said. "Our front seven on defense stood out as a positive, and we found some open receivers in the passing game. Our special teams need to play better as a whole."

Mundelein update: Here are a couple eye-openers on the statistical pages for the Mustangs, coming off a Week 1 victory over Grant (22-8).

Mundelein ran for 435 yards on a whopping 56 carries and still found bandwidth to complete 9 of 11 passes. The Mustangs averaged 7.8 yards per tote.

Marcel Seipko was a stalwart on both sides of the ball, running 23 times for 234 yards (10.2 yards per carry) and a score. He also recorded 10 tackles and had one pass breakup on defense.

Antioch update: The Sequoits got it done on the ground in their close 24-21 loss to Carmel in Week 1.

Sophomore running back Martin Cohen went over the 100-yard mark on only 8 carries, while junior Nick Day ran for 83 yards. "Martin and Nick played very well as did our offensive line," Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said.

Glashagel thought special teams was also a positive. "Special teams was solid," he said. "Defensively, we have all the guys on the bus, just not in the correct seats yet. And we need to throw the ball better."

Glashagel noted a couple key categories on the stat sheet had a big determining factor in the game. "We didn't create turnovers and we had costly penalties," he said. "That's what decided the game."

Grant update: Bulldogs coach Tim Norwood liked how his team moved the ball in the Week 1 loss to Mundelein.

"We did not finish drives in the red zone," he noted. "We need to end our drives with touchdowns. We had success throwing the ball, but we need to get more out of our running game. Defensively, we need to improve at stopping the run."

Junior quarterback Rylan Art and junior tailback-free safety Pryde Mendoza came out of the gates strong for Grant. "Rylan did a nice job managing the game," Norwood pointed out. "Pryde was a strong contributor on both sides of the ball."

Round Lake update: The Panthers are putting their Week 1 loss to Wheeling in the rearview mirror - quickly.

"Not a lot went well in Week 1, so we need to refocus through a solid week of practice and get back on track," Round Lake coach Scott Blecha said.

Blecha pointed out Round Lake gave up 285 yards rushing. "We must do a better job stopping the run game this week (at Maine East)," he said. "Offensively, we need to hit the reset button and get back to basics. We had too many players trying to do too much and it caused too many turnovers (4 offensive turnovers against Wheeling). Football is a whole lot easier when each one of the 11 on the field does their job and doesn't try to do too much."

Defensively, three players each had 7 total tackles with Levi Graham recording 5 solos and 2 assists, Jovanny Guzman 4 solos and 3 assists and Anthony Bishop 3 solos and 4 assists.

Grayslake North update: The Knights went on the road to Vernon Hills and came out on the right end of a 38-26 high-scoring affair.

"We came out at the start with some intensity and finished the game with intensity," North coach Brian Johnson said. "However, we had some lulls in the middle. This week (against Mundelein) we are going to need to play the whole game and not have a letdown."

The Knights' defense forced 6 turnovers in the game. Johnson would like to see the North running game ramp up a couple ticks.

"We need to be more efficient in the run game," he said. "We did not run the ball the way we had planned. We definitely need to establish the run game this week."

Kicker Gavin Congalton, a soccer player, booted a 40-yard field goal and had 3 touchbacks as a special teams stalwart. Senior Michael Jefferson Jr. led the team in tackles with nine, enjoyed a couple pass breakups, forced and recovered a fumble, caught a touchdown pass and returned a punt 18 yards. "Michael was all over the field for us," Johnson said.

Lakes update: Eagles coach Jason Ellerman saw both sides of the coin in his team's Week 1 loss to Sterling.

"Our energy was great and positive throughout the Sterling game," he said. "We need to run the ball, finish blocks, tackle better and have a better effort on special teams."

Max Bausch played well at quarterback with Tyson Dewey being a favorite target (14 catches). "Max threw the ball well," Ellerman noted.

Wauconda update: A key factor in the Bulldogs' 49-0 win against Aurora Central Catholic was the running game. Wauconda ran for 292 yards with Connor Vanselow leading the way with 104 yards and a rushing touchdown (he also had a receiving touchdown).

"This is a team effort," Bulldogs coach Chris Prostka said. "Our backs ran hard, our line did a nice job and our receivers were committed to blocking downfield to spring some big runs."

Zac Johnson did a little bit of everything in the win, recording 5 tackles on defense, hitting 5 of 6 point-after attempts and also catching a 2-point conversion pass.