LAKE ZURICH, Ill. — After starting out a little slow, the Lake Forest football team dominated their counterparts from Lake Zurich, who came into the game ranked #10 in the state by NBC Sports Chicago and looked the part from the opening whistle.
In the first quarter, the Bears jumped out to an early lead as Steven Castellani made his way through the Lake Forest defense and scored on a 17 yard touchdown run. From there, the game slowed for a bit before Carter Hiam nailed a 27 yard field goal to tighten the score to 7-3 with 6:40 left in the first half.
The Scouts were dealt a terrible blow early in the game. Starting quarterback James Swartout took a big hit and headed to the sideline where he would not return to action. Reports indicate that Swartout broke his collarbone on the play which then called for safety and backup QB Tommy Hanson to step in.
The two-way player did just that as he led the offense down the field right after half and gave the Scouts the lead with a 23 yard touchdown pass to Ryan Cekay. At that point, the scoreboard read 10-7, and the visiting Scouts would not lose that lead.
Lake Forest’s defense remained strong and quickly forced Lake Zurich to punt. Upon getting the ball back, Coach Spagnoli and offensive coordinator Phil DeWald opened up the playbook. A reverse to wide receiver Ryan Cekay was called and the former quarterback found junior wide receiver Breck Nowik wide open downfield. The gamble resulted in a 72 yard touchdown that pushed the lead to 17-7.
Seniors Eddie Scheidler and Adam Khater each forced a turnover late in the fourth quarter which led to a 2 yard touchdown run by sophomore Mac Uihlein. That touchdown run ended the scoring for both parties and secured the 24-7 win for Lake Forest.
Scouts’ fans who made the trip to Lake Zurich were fortunate enough to see their team’s best performance this season. The defensive front seven applied constant pressure and prevented the Lake Zurich offense from getting anything going. They were led by junior defensive end Rylie Mills who finished with 11 tackles and a forced fumble. Scheidler and Luke Nolan each had an interception to add to the defensive performance. On offense, the Scouts were led by Nowik who finished with 110 yards and a touchdown. Jacob Thomas and Uihlein combined for 63 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Lake Forest moved to 2-2 (2-0 in conf.) whereas Lake Zurich fell to 2-2 (1-1 in conf.). Warren comes to town this Friday as the Scouts hope to keep the win streak alive on Homecoming weekend.
