Not many people expected the Lake Forest Scouts to make it past the first round of the IHSA playoffs against the Riverside-Brookfield Bulldogs, except for the football players themselves. In what was thought to be a high scoring game turned into a Scouts slaughtering of their opponent as their offense put a total of 35 points on the board while their defense, without star middle linebacker John Deering, only allowed 10 points. One week later, the Scouts have turned their attention to the Hoffman Estates Hawks, who will soar into town Saturday afternoon for a 1 pm game at Varsity Field. The Hawks started off their 2017 season red hot, but began to cool off towards the end of the year losing two of their last three games. However, after a first round blowout victory, Hoffman Estates has gained back their confidence, but will their high scoring offense and athletic defense be enough to defeat the Lake Forest Scouts?
At 8-2, (3-2 in Mid-Suburban League- East division play) the Hawks had some dominant wins along with just a couple of tough defeats. However, the Hawks have been able to respond to those losses better than other teams by dominating their opponents the following week. Just last week, after coming off a 23-point loss to Palatine to end the regular season, the Hawks destroyed DeLaSalle in the opening round of the playoffs 34-0 in their most impressive game of the season. Now, with plenty of momentum, their offense and defense will be put to the test against the Lake Forest Scouts who are also red hot and are riding a four game win streak.
In last week’s victory, the Hoffman offense racked up a stunning total of 430 yards complementing their 34 point win. Led by quarterback Austin Coalson, Hoffman Estates provides a spread of talented receivers that could be lethal if the Scouts cornerbacks and safeties can not contain them. One of those players is Jayvon Blissett. The 6’3″ wide receiver definitely uses his height as an advantage and, of course, is a very reliable target for Coalson. The offensive receiving talent does not end there. Jaylan Alexander has performed at an elite level this year catching the eyes of college football scouts. In fact, Alexander will play Big Ten football next year for the Purdue Boilermakers after receiving an offer. His speed is electrifying, and, of course, the kid can catch. These two wide receivers will play a pivotal role in tomorrow’s game and in order for the Scouts to keep the game close, the cornerbacks will need to make their presence known. The final player that fans need to be aware of on the Hawks offense is running back Jaylin Johnson (5’7″, 200 lbs.). When the ball wasn’t being thrown to Blissett or Alexander this season, Johnson was running it. He has four runs this year of 30 or more yards and gets yards off first contact exceptionally well. The other Hawks runner is fullback Isaiah Cooper. He has good size (5’7″ 180 lbs.) and is more of an inside, bruising type of runner.
This team is very talented on offense and has scored as many as 56 points in a game. Lake Forest cannot let the Hawks jump out early, because when they do, they can be lethal. The Hoffman Estates defense is quite talented as well, but will it be enough to enough to stop Mislinski and the Scouts’ revamped offense? As mentioned prior, they shut out their opponent in the opening round of the 6A playoffs, which was their second shutout this season. Their secondary of Anijel Jones, Cameron Kindred, Clevontae Jackson and Trevon Hall may be the best the Scouts have faced all season. Hall, a 5’11” 180-pound senior might be the best of the group. Shawn Brown (6’0″ 230 lbs.) is a solid edge rusher, Femi Oginni (5’11” 245 lbs.), a stout interior lineman and Jimmy Burks, their best linebacker (5’11” 195 lbs.). This is an aggressive defense that does a lot of stemming and stunting. They will challenge the Scouts offensive line to make the right reads pre-snap and get their steps right post snap.
One of the most promising things about the Hoffman Estates Hawks is the fact that they have 16 returning starters, 10 of which are on their offense. Despite a lower seeding, this team is much more talented than the Riverside-Brookfield Bulldogs, who the Scouts destroyed last week. In short, the Scouts will have their work cut out for them Saturday afternoon.
The biggest storyline heading into last week’s game against Riverside-Brookfield was how the Scouts were going to fare without their star middle linebacker John Deering. A handful of players on the defensive side of the ball stepped up for the Scouts, who allowed a total of ten points, while their offense went on to score 35. One week later, the Lake Forest Scouts take on another team with a winning record, but this time the Scouts will have Deering on the defensive side of the ball. How many snaps he will play with an injured right shoulder remains to be seen.
In last week’s 25-point victory, we saw one of the best performances from the Scouts offense, especially from their running backs. Bryan Ooms had three touchdowns along with 135 rushing yards. Jacob Thomas also had a touchdown. Expect the Scouts running game to be utilized a lot in tomorrow’s game. However, when Jack Mislinski does drop back to pass, expect a lot of those tosses to go to Ryan Cekay. Cekay racked up 125 yards last week but will be more tested this week by a tougher Hawks secondary. The biggest key for them will be to get on short fields, limit turnovers and score early.
The defensive confidence for the Scouts is running high heading into tomorrow’s matchup. However, this will be one of the better offenses that Lake Forest has seen all year. The Scouts cornerbacks will be put to the test against the Eagles star receivers and the linebackers will need to prevent any big runs from Johnson. Hoffman Estates would prefer to run the football. If the Scouts can stop the run, get them behind the chains and pressure Coalson into forcing throws off schedule, that’s a successful formula. By all means, this will be a tough test for the Lake Forest Scouts defense, but they have proved this year that they will never back down from a challenge.
After last week’s victory over an 8-1 team, the Scouts feel like they can defeat anyone, but their offense needs to come ready. This will be one of those coin flip games that will come down to the final possession, but in the end, I see the Scouts winning at home against the Eagles and punching their ticket to the state quarterfinals for the second year in a row. This should be a very exciting game. Come out to Varsity Field tomorrow at 1 pm to watch the Lake Forest Scouts take on the Hoffman Estates Eagles in the second round of the IHSA playoffs.
Players To Watch:
Caleb Durbin/Eddie Scheidler: As mentioned earlier, the cornerbacks will have one of their biggest tests all year. Durbin and Scheidler have demonstrated that they can handle even the toughest of receivers, such as Warren’s Micah Jones, and will need to play big against Jayvon Blissett and Jaylan Alexander.
Bryan Ooms: After a huge night last week, Ooms will likely get more carries. Especially if this becomes a high scoring game, the Scouts will need Ooms to help keep the game close.
Ryan Cekay: Cekay also had a productive game against R-B. The star receiver had over 100 yards and will be expected to make another big impact against the Eagles.
Chris Cavalaris/Alex Moss/Ryan Marquis: This is a game where the secondary will have a big impact on the outcome. If Durbin or Scheidler run into any trouble defending the Eagles receivers, they will need to fall back on the Scouts safeties who have all had impressive years thus far. Watch for Cavalaris/Moss/Marquis to make some big plays tomorrow afternoon
Jack Mislinski: Although he may not pass as much Saturday, Mislinski will need to limit mistakes such as turnovers or significant losses of yardage. He’s been efficient running the offense and needs to continue to do so Saturday.
