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Schools

Lesson Learned: Lake Forest Defense Spurs Offensive Rout

Lake Forest shows more of its potential with Mundelein up next.

In practice, defensive short-yardage drills are anticlimatic.

In a game, they can turn the tide of emotion.

When defense rose on fourth down and two to stop Highland Park running back Nate Echt inside the Scouts’ 15-yard line midway through Friday’s first quarter, the game took a dramatic shift.

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“That play did a lot for us,” “It showed us what we needed to do to pick it up.”

Defense Sets Tone

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The play set the offense in motion as well. The Scouts moved 81 yards in eight plays, scoring on Luke Bernardi’s 37-yard reverse for a touchdown .

The win evened Lake Forest’s record at 1-1 with Mundelein (0-2) coming to Varsity Field on Sept. 9.

Instead of finding themselves out of position as in , Lake Forest converged in numbers.

“We were well-prepared,” inside linebacker Brandt Pfeifer said. “They (the coaches) put the ball down with third and four in practice and we run that defense over and over. It’s the same with fourth down.”

Lake Forest had only given up a little over 200 yards in the 31-24 loss to Buffalo Grove, so . The minds just needed some adjusting.

“We kind of refocused,” Spagnoli said. “Not the x’s and o’s. We pushed the little things to execute better.”

Message received.

“Last week we didn’t execute well against Buffalo Grove,” Wagener said. “We weren’t picking each other up.”

Added Pfeifer, “We knew we were better than that. That’s not who we are. We really wanted to prove ourselves. We got each other up during the week.”

Numbers That Means Something

On offense, the Scouts rang up big numbers again with more than 500 yards total offense compared with last week's 363. The difference was better precision and more potency.

rushed just 11 times, but amassed 181 yards and three touchdowns, including runs of 70 and 74 yards. completed nine of 12 passes for 212 yards and a TD, but no picks.

And as the defense became more opportunistic, the offense cashed in. On Highland Park’s second possession of the game, Tim Wilson stole a Max Mordini pass at the Scouts’ 39. Two plays later, Williams broke free on his 70-yard TD jaunt. 

“I was watching the quarterback and saw he had a weak pass,” Wilson said. “When it went up in the air, I became a receiver.” 

Spagnoli was thrilled with the interception and how it continued to set the tone for the game.

“It was pretty athletic on Tim’s part,” Spagnoli said. “He did a pretty good job of watching the play and delivering.” 

On Highland Park’s next series, Scout linebacker Dominick Keefe hit Giant Alec Just, forced a fumble and recovered it. On the next play, Beck connected for a 60-yard touchdown pass and a 21-0 lead.

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