Game Day: Lake Forest (2-1) At Zion-Benton (1-2)

Lake Forest (2-1) at Zion-Benton (1-2)

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16.

Where: Zion-Benton High School, 3901 W. 21st St., Zion.

Last year: Lake Forest won, 42-7.

Last week: ; Zion-Benton lost to Stevenson, 31-7.

Last year's records:  finished 7-4, lost in second round of Class 6A state playoffs to Crystal Lake South; Zion-Benton finished 0-9.

Key Players:  — Jordan Beck, quarterback; Bo Dever, receiver; Owen Williams, running back; Trent Williams, linebacker; John Marwede, lineman; Dominick Keefe, linebacker; Brandt Pfeifer, linebacker; Matt Wagener, linebacker, Jack Kutschke, lineman. Zion-Benton — Alex Pasiewicz, running back; Jordan Lynch, lineman; Matt Cortesi, Carlton Reynolds, running back, Jalen Torres.

Will Win: Even in registering an impressive 49-0 win over Mundelein, Lake Forest showed some nicks in their armour that need to be smoothed over as the schedule gets increasingly difficult. Penalties continue to register in double digits, and those need to be minimized. Zion-Benton will be the toughest opponent to date, and this is an opportune time for the Scouts to show their offense can sustain drives and eat up the clock. There's nothing wrong with a big-play offense, but against better opponents those windows won't be as open. Owen Williams has racked up big yardage with big plays, but his real asset is helping the Scouts maintain ball control. Defensively, Lake Forest needs to continue to pursue the ball in numbers, and the appearance of a pass rush last week is a good omen since the ZeeBees will have a different quarterback taking snaps.

Zion-Benton Will Win: The ZeeBee offense was never better than in their opening win over Deerfield. Alex Pasiewicz gained more than 200 yards and scored a pair of TDs. His ability to help Z-B move the ball on a consistent basis is crucial. They need to avoid the turnovers that plagued last week's loss at Stevenson and an offense that basically shut down after the first half. Stevenson had something to do with that, and the ZeeBees will be challenged by the change at quarterback after Javairius Amos-Mays transferred this week to North Chicago.

Intangibles:  can't afford to look past this game, especially with so many critical North Suburban Conference games still to come. In order to stay with the favorites, they have to play like one. Zion-Benton will provide a good physical test, a barometer for where this season is really headed.