One week ago, the Lake Forest Scouts varsity football team found themselves with their playoff hopes on the line, against the ropes, losing to the Zion-Benton Zee-Bees 8-0 in the 4th quarter with under six minutes remaining. The Lake Forest Scouts offense, which has endured a multitude of struggles this season, stunned the Zion-Benton faithful with two touchdowns, including the game winner by junior Jacob Thomas, in the final minutes of the game. Although it was not their prettiest win, the Scouts will take anything they can get in order to extend their season in to the IHSA 6A Playoffs.

One week later, the Scouts are set to face off against the struggling Mundelein Mustangs who are only playing for pride after officially becoming mathematically eliminated from playoff contention last week. Despite their record, the Scouts cannot come into the game expecting it to be an easy win. Being only one loss away from elimination themselves, Lake Forest has a limited margin of error and, if the game is tight come the final quarter of play, one slip up could cost them their season.

Their is no sugar coating it: The Mundelein Mustangs have had a rough year. Sitting at (2-5) overall (1-4 in NSC), Mundelein was destroyed by Libertyville last week 42-0 and the week prior was annihilated by the Warren Blue Devils 48-7.

Despite their punishing defeats thus far, head coach Larry Calhoun said, “Our players are disappointed that we have not had the success that we had hoped for this season, but they are still football players. They play because they love to play, and that’s who they are. The losses are hard, but on Monday that was behind us and we are looking forward playing Lake Forest.” Despite their punishing season, one thing is for sure: they will not be slacking on their conference rivals tonight.

The Mundelein Mustangs have had all sorts of trouble getting their offense going this season. Senior quarterback Anthony Norris  has shown that he has the ability to be a star player, but he doesn’t currently have the receivers that could help his stats raise in a positive direction. Last week against Libertyville, Norris ran for 80 yards, which was more than half of the team’s total of 148 rushing yards. The only two offensive players to keep an eye out for other than their QB is #2 Jack Dorfler and #4 Isaiah Wellman. Dorfler, who is only a sophomore, has had some good games against teams like Waukegan and Streamwood this season, but has otherwise been very limited by the opposing team’s defense. Due to Norris’s passing struggles over the past two games, it would not be surprising to see the Mundelein coaching staff run the ball more often. Isaiah Wellman is Norris’s favorite receiver to throw to. The 5’11” senior has had some very rough outings against some of the NSC powerhouse teams and will hope to turn things around tonight at Varsity Field against a stout Lake Forest defense. What has really been a major setback to this Mundelein team has been their amount of turnovers. Coach Calhoun added that they turned the ball over four times last week against Libertyville, resulting in 28 of the Wildcats points. If they want to have a chance tonight, the Mustangs will need to limit their amount of turnovers.

In looking at some of their recent scores, you can tell that the Mundelein defense has seen better years. The Mustangs do not have a single player that averages over 7 tackles a game. Regarding his struggling defense, Coach Calhoun mentioned,  “[Mundelein] needs to secure all tackles on defense, and cannot afford to miss any.” Missed tackles have been a huge problem for Mundelein, especially if the game is close at the end of the contest.

There are many things Mundelein must rectify from last week in order to have a chance in tonight’s game. Mundelein needs a player who has stayed under the radar to step up tonight in order for them to knock off the Scouts. When asked about a key player in tonight’s game, Coach Larry Calhoun added, “We have had a number of players injured in the past few weeks.  Some are playing with limited reps in practice, other players are stepping into starting roles.  We will need solid performances across the board.  Our offensive line will need to play well as a unit, and we will need to take care of the football and avoid turnovers.” If everything goes right tonight for the Mustangs, they certainly have the potential to make a game of it on Senior Night in west Lake Forest.

The Lake Forest Scouts’ playoff hopes are still alive after defeating the Zion-Benton Zee-Bees in the final minutes of play last Friday night. In order to keep those hopes alive, they must win tonight against Mundelein, and for confidence purposes, must do so handedly. Based on Mundelein’s poor defense and mediocre offense as of late, this could be the game the Scouts’ offense erupts and leaves the Mustangs trampled 

First off, a lot of credit is due to the Scouts offense, who stayed tough against Zion-Benton in the final minutes of the game. They stayed cool under pressure and were able to grind out a late game victory, and perhaps regained their confidence on that side of the ball. Tonight, it would not surprise me to see QB Jack Mislinski throw the ball more often. Wide receivers such as Ryan Cekay, who scored a touchdown last week, could be enormous threats to the Mustangs weak secondary and once Mislinski gets comfortable, I’d expect the Scouts’ total passing yards to skyrocket. If Lake Forest can set the tone early and put pressure on the Mustangs offense to respond, I believe the Scouts could have this game in the bag early on.

The biggest part of last week’s game were the defensive stops to keep the Zion-Benton lead to only one score, granting the Scouts’ offense a chance to come back in the late stages of the game. They have proven all season long to be at their best in clutch situations and will be no easy task for the Mundelein offense. The main focus on defense tonight will be the line and the linebackers. The Mustangs will run the ball quite a bit tonight and in order to prevent any large rushing outbreaks, the line and linebackers, inlcuding hard-hitting senior John Deering, must be at their sharpest.

The most eye-catching stat regarding this week’s matchup is each team’s average points per game (PPG). Thus far, the Lake Forest Scouts have averaged 12.7 PPG while Mundelein is right behind them averaging 12.6 PPG. Granted, both teams are coming off of two very different games with two very different results, so confidence could play a role as well, but neither offense has been at their best as of late. I am still going to side with the Lake Forest Scouts earning a signature victory over the Mundelein Mustangs. My prediction is that the offense will finally get a touchdown in the first half, while the defense will break a new season high for three-and-outs. For the Seniors, this is it. This is the final time they will walk onto Varsity Field in a Scouts football uniform, and I strongly believe that they will exit as victors one last time.

Key Players:

Jack Mislinski: In his final game at Varsity Field, it would not surprise me to see Mislinski throw the ball much more than he has in the past. With a weak Mundelein secondary, it would not be surprising to see his passing yards way above average in tonight’s contest. In fact, if Mislinski plays well enough to gain a sizable lead, we could see backup QB Tommy Hanson as early as the first half.

Caleb Durbin: In his first year on the varsity football squad, Durbin has proved to be one of the most underrated players on defense. His presence against wide receivers such as Micah Jones from Warren have been superb and it would not surprise me to see him come up with his first INT of his season.  

Shannon Charleston: Charleston has had some very impressive games on defense as of late. With the Mustangs likely to run the ball more often tonight, it would not surprise me to see Charleston rack up a season high total in tackles for tonight’s contest.

About the Mustangs:

Record: (2-5, 1-4)

Conference: North Suburban

Head Coach: Larry Calhoun

Enrollment: 2,355

Furthest IHSA Playoff Advancement: 7A Quarterfinalists (’03, ’05)