After what was arguably the best win in Lake Forest Football history, the Scouts live to play another week. Saturday night the Scouts were given the No. 14 seed and were paired to play against the No. 3 seed: the Belvidere North Blue Thunder.

(The Scouts’ side of the 6A IHSA Playoff Bracket)

The bracket is split up into two 16 team fields for each class (Lake Forest is 6A). The Scouts were able to get a very good draw that favors the Boys in Blue tremendously down the road. For now, the focus is on Belvidere North, and being 1-0 each week. 

The Boys in Blue are in for a pretty long road trip traveling just outside of Rockford to begin their road to the state championship. 

The Blue Thunder are in a unique situation with their conference and schedule. Belvidere North is a part of the Northern Illinois Conference, which has 10 teams. Every game that the Blue Thunder have played this season has been in-conference because there are more opponents in the conference than games in the schedule (9). 

When the Blue Thunder have won games, they have won by a sizeable margin, winning by an average of 28.2 points a game.

When this team wins, they win in a comfortable fashion, but in the two times they have suffered defeat this season is something that catches a lot of teams and coaches eyes. 

Belvidere North is 1-2 against playoff teams this season. That is where this conference struggles, as only four of their teams qualified for a playoff spot this season. 

The Scouts defense will decide this game. Belvidere North has played seven teams that have given up 240 points on average over the entirety of the season, and won all of those games. The Scouts, however, have only given up 156 points this season. 

The Blue Thunder are also a triple option offensive team so they like to run the ball a lot, a favorable tendency for the Scouts’ powerful run defense.

Where Belvidere has their strength is on the defensive line. They have four big boys upfront which will make running and pass blocking really tough. The offensive line will have to have a great game.

The key to success for this Scout offense is going to be quick short passes for gains of 3-4 yards. They need to take every yard they can get on Friday night and capitalize on turnovers the defense forces, something the Scouts were unable to do against Stevenson.

The tenth straight playoff appearance for the Lake Forest Scouts will be a cold, competitive, and physical game.

Ultimately, the North Suburban Conference will give the Scouts the edge in this one. As the saying goes, iron sharpens iron, and that is certainly the case with the NSC, which features some of the best teams in the state. Make the trip west and support the Scouts, who won’t have the advantage of a raucous home crowd. The journey to the state championship begins now.

Score Prediction

LFHS 24, BNHS 17

Quick Facts

Scouts Current Record: (5-4) NSC (4-3)

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Belvidere North High School (Directions)

Live Stream: NFHS Network

Scout Nation: Sign up for the Student Fan Bus in the Athletic Office before the end of today (10/31)