Saturday Q&A With Lake Forest Head Coach Chuck Spagnoli

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As his team danced and hollered in the locker room following an emotional win over Stevenson Friday night at Varsity Field, things were much calmer in the coaches' office upstairs inside West Campus. 

Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch sat down with Scouts head coach Chuck Spagnoli after a game he, his coaches and players won't forget and hope to build on as they face Warren Thursday at home.

What does this win mean for the program?

It's big. We always talk about being one of the best programs in the state and you have to beat big programs to get to that level. Certainly they (Stevenson) are one that is established. I'm just happy for our kids. They played hard and deserved to win. It was no fluke.

It was a very physical football game. How were you able hold them to 39 yards rushing? 

I think they may of had 50 plays in the game (52) and they threw it 20 or 22 (25)? That has something to do with the rushing stats. The key to it all was first down defense and keep them in second and long. It's hard to say we are going to just pound it and pound it when you are struggling to get the ball downfield rushing it. 

Thomas Kutschke (junior left defensive end) appeared to be in the backfield all night, disrupting their timing.

He obviously played very well. He's been getting better every week. He never really played defensive line at the beginning of year. As he played it, he's been getting better every week.

With 2:06 left in the game, Stevenson's kicker and quarterback, Matt Micucci, missed a 32-yard field goal that would have tied it. It looked as though he had injured his foot on the previous play which may have effected the kick. What did you see?

I don't know if he mishit it or what, it looked like it never got off the ground. I think it was missed on previous two, three or four plays. He was getting off the ground a lot. He was getting up after every play as we were getting pressure. Some of that kind of beat him up a little.

On your last possession, Jordan Beck stayed in bounds and sustained a third down play where the Patriots were flagged for unnecessary roughness. You kept the ball and ran out the clock. Talk about that play.

We tell him don't go out of bounds as they had no timeouts. We practice that. Our guys don't just go down; they don't just stop. Some of that is preparation, but obviously you have to give Jordan all the credit because he kept the thing going. I don't know what caused the flag, frankly I thought he got face masked before the play came up. Jordan did what Jordan does. A great play by him.

Your first victory over Stevenson in nine year's as coach. How significant is this for you?

As a coach, you can look down the road. Here's the thing about this win. Our seniors deserved this win because they worked for this win, they earned this win. The game was so great because they earned it. This was not a fluke. We feel as coaches, we let these guys enjoy this victory. Coaches will worry about the next game.