During the past 10 years, Zion-Benton’s football program was a combined 2-48 against the five top teams in the North Suburban Lake.
A second decade of games between the Zee-Bees and the Big Five — Libertyville, Lake Forest, Lake Zurich, Stevenson and Warren — started on Friday night. While the gap between the Zee-Bees and league powers may be shrinking, it’s still there.
Witness Libertyville’s 41-0 win over the host Zee-Bees on Friday night in the conference opener for teams.
Libertyville (3-0) scored early and scored often while Zion-Benton (2-1) struggled to move the chains. It was 21-0 on two first-quarter touchdown passes and a short TD run by Northwestern commit Riley Lees.
And when Ryan Maher’s pick set up Noah Moderwell for a 9-yard TD with 4:44 to go in the first half, it was 28-0 and the Zee-Bee faithful started thinking about next week’s game at Lake Zurich. Libertyville will host Lake Forest the same night.
Friday’s outcome was never really in doubt as Zion-Benton didn’t get a first down until its sixth and final possession of the first half.
By that time, Lees had a 7-yard TD pass to Ben Kimpler, a 53-yard TD pass to a wide-open Henry Schmidt and a 2-yard TD run on a quarterback keeper to build the early lead.
In the third quarter, Lees scored his third TD, this time on an 8-yard run that followed Maher’s second interception.
And when Moderwell scored from the 1 with 53 seconds left in the third quarter, the score moved to 41-0 and brought on the the running-clock rule.
Lees, who is expected to play wide receiver at Northwestern, had 19 carries for 161 yards and two TDs. He was 6-for-14 passing for 106 yards and two TDs. Moderwell carried 17 times for 179 yards and a pair of TDs.
Libertyville finished with 40 running plays that gained 356 yards to go along with 106 through the air.
For Zion-Benton, running back T.J. Brister carried 10 times for 18 yards and quarterback DeAndre Green ran 17 times for 42 yards. Green was 4-for-13 passing for 34 yards with two interceptions.
Zion gained 108 total yards on 35 runs and was 6-for-18 passing for 46 yards.
“The defense looked awesome, just like they have been,” Lees said. “Offensively, we did what we needed to do. Noah Moderwell played a heckuva game. We got it done in all phases of the game and we’re happy to come out with the win.”
Bryan Bonato is a freelance writer for the News-Sun.
FRIDAY NGHT FOOTBALL
East Suburban Catholic
St. Viator at Marist, late
Nazareth 56, St. Patrick 28
Notre Dame 29, Benet 14
Joliet Catholic 41, Carmel 21
Marian Central 56, Marian Catholic 16
Fox Valley Fox
Prairie Ridge 42, CL Central 7
Grayslake Central at Hampshire, late
Woodstock North 17, Woodstock 13
North Suburban Lake
Warren 34, Lake Forest 28
Stevenson 38, Lake Zurich 35
Libertyville 41, Zion-Benton 0
North Suburban Prairie
Lakes 14, Antioch 9
Vernon Hills 21, Grant 18
Wauconda 40, Round Lake 0
Nonconference
Glenbrook South 33, Highland Park 14
Cary-Grove 68, Grayslake North 12
Lake Forest Academy at Aurora Christian, late
Maine South at Deerfield, late
Mundelein 55, North Chicago 6
Waukegan 44, Maine East 0
FRIDAY NIGHT QUICK HITS
Waukegan 44, Maine East 0
Gaberial Robinson scored touchdowns on runs of 1 and 17 yards and returned an interception 97 yards for a TD for the Bulldogs (2-1). Jason Bey-McKie rushed for 100 yards and QB Malik Brown ran for 84 yards and a TD.
Lakes 14, Antioch 9
Lakes (1-2) has now won 22 straight North Suburban Prairie games. Cameron Ruiz scored Lakes’ touchdowns on first-half runs of 11 and 35 yards. Antioch got within 14-9 with 2:52 left to play on a 1-yard TD run by Griffin Hill.
Stevenson 38, Lake Zurich 35
Jack Sorenson passed for 278 yards and four TDs, three to Matt Norton, and also ran for a TD as Stevenson (2-1, 1-0) won in the North Suburban Lake. Running back Ben Klett ran for 61 yards for Lake Zurich (0-3, 0-1) before leaving with an apparent right ankle injury in the second quarter.
