Stevenson’s football team perennially finds itself at or near the top of the North Suburban Conference. Many attribute their success to the fact that they have a massive student body and have the ability to really select the “cream of the crop” for every position. Others say it is because of their coaching staff, led by defensive mastermind Josh Hjorth. Regardless of what it is, they certainly have a “refuse to lose” mentality that led them to a 8A State Championship in 2015 and kept them undefeated in conference play last season. In their first conference match-up of the season in 2017, they, again, rose to the challenge. The Lake Forest Scouts varsity football team welcomed the Patriots to West Campus Friday night in hopes of pulling off a massive conference upset.
After a lot of speculation, the more experienced quarterback on the Patriots, Grayson Kubow, started over junior backup Cole Okmin. Kubow got banged up in their previous game against Muskegon (MI) but was cleared to play before game time, which was a relief to the Patriots’ coaching staff. After the Scouts made a crucial 4th down stop on Stevenson’s first drive, Kubow and the rest of the offense got to business. Right out of the gate on their second drive, Kubow tossed a long pass to Tyler Porzycki, who caught the pass off the hands of Scouts safety Will Freeman, and broke away from the secondary for an 82 yard TD.
Following a field goal, Stevenson was able to tack one more touchdown extending their lead to 17-0. The Lake Forest offense struggled to get moving and had been completely shut down in the first half. The home team relied on their defense to hold off the Patriots’ powerful offense to at least give them a chance in the second half. While the defense did look better in the second half, the offense continued to struggle.
The Patriots scored 6 more points in the second half on a flea flicker that got behind the Scouts secondary. Ultimately, the final score was 23-0 in favor of the favored Patriots. The Scouts are now (2-1) on the season and (0-1) in conference play.
While the offense didn’t look their sharpest, the defense didn’t look bad aside for a few big plays. Chris Cavalaris yet again had another interception–his fourth in just three games–and Eddie Scheidler snagged a pick as well. Overall, the Scouts defense in the second half was probably the best we have seen all season. They made plenty of stops and forced Stevenson to bring on their punter more than the Patriots expected.
Lake Forest now has their toughest opponent of the young season behind them. It wasn’t the result anyone in the Lake Forest community wanted to see, but the team needs to keep their heads up and move onto preparing for the Warren Blue Devils, who come to town this week. The biggest week of school spirit and Friday night football is still on the horizon for homecoming. On Friday, the Scouts will face the Warren Blue Devils, a (2-1) team on the season who is coming fresh off of a win against the Libertyville Wildcats 26-10. The game, in my opinion, will be similar to the St. Viator game, where the contest may come down to the final play. Check in with the Forest Scout Friday morning to get the full game preview of what will be an epic homecoming game.
