Lake Zurich Bears Fall To Stevenson, 24-17

For the Lake Zurich Bears, Thursday night’s 24-17 loss to Stevenson was déjà vu all over again. Losing their homecoming game last year to the Patriots, when quarterback Kevin Earl engineered a 90-plus-yard drive to win the game, the Bears were unable to prevent a repeat performance by Matt Micucci on Thursday night during the Patriots' homecoming contest.

Micucci went to the air when he needed to during the 98-yard winning drive that chewed up 4:10 during the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, leaving Lake Zurich quarterback Zach Till just 26 seconds to try to work some magic. But after a 13-yard completion to Jake Stauner, Till was picked off by linebacker Dominykas Bickus and the Patriots ran out the clock to seal the victory.

“I think the team played with a sense of urgency tonight,” said coach Bryan Stortz after the game. “But they’ve got to try and do that every play. There was some letdown at times during the game.”

It was almost all-Stevenson in the first half of the game; they led 17-3 going into halftime before the Bears came roaring back in the third and fourth quarters.

Lake Zurich had their best offensive series in the first half during their first possession of the game. After starting at their own 13-yard line, they eventually broke through into Patriots territory to their 45-yard line. Mike Rantis’ 15-yard run, the third play of the Bears’ possession, was the longest play from scrimmage during the series.

After the Bears punted the ball, Stevenson managed one first down on their first series before giving the ball back to Lake Zurich. There was no scoring in the first quarter, but the Patriots broke through early in the second, when Micucci found Anthony Bozin open along the far right side of the field. Bozin motored along the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown and a 7-0 Patriots lead.

The Patriots struck again on their next possession, and again the big play was a Micucci-to-Bozin hook-up, this time a screen pass that Bozin turned into a 40-yard gainer, taking the ball to Lake Zurich’s 13-yard line. Micucci then found Jon Way in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass.

Stevenson made it 17-0 on their next series after Till was picked off by Matt Morrissey, giving the Patriots the ball at Lake Zurich’s 31-yard line. Micucci’s 41-yard field goal completed the Patriots' third straight scoring drive.

The Bears finally got on the board late in the second quarter, courtesy of a 37-yard field goal by Mike Leiva. After John Orlando returned the ball to Lake Zurich’s 41-yard line, a series of short-yardage gains, mostly keepers by Till and runs by Shield, put the Bears in field goal range.

Whatever Coach Stortz said at halftime had a positive effect on the team, as it was virtually all-Lake Zurich on offense during the third and fourth quarters until Stevenson’s final winning drive.

The Patriots, who made numerous penalties throughout the game, were pushed back to their own 12-yard line on the ensuing kickoff due to a holding penalty. After going three-and-out, Stevenson gave Lake Zurich excellent field position on the Patriots 38-yard line. After an incomplete pass to Rantis, Till connected with Jack Lynn for a 14-yard completion down the middle. Till then scooted down the left sideline on the next play for a touchdown, narrowing Stevenson’s lead to 17-10.

After going three-and-out on their next series, the Patriots punted the ball back to the Bears, who scored again to tie the game. The key play of the drive was a beautiful cross-field pass by Till to Orlando, who galloped down the left sideline to the 5-yard line. Moments later, Till went up and over from a yard out for the touchdown with 6:50 remaining in the third.

The Bears’ defense continued to hold Stevenson in check for most of the second half. “The defense played extremely well,” said coach Stortz. “They batted a couple of balls down and did a good job of applying pressure.”

Lake Zurich had two drives, one that began late in the third quarter, and the other that started midway through the fourth that could have netted them 10 points, but failed to get into the end zone on a touchdown attempt and a blocked field goal.

The first drive started on their own 21-yard line, and was aided by a 15-yard penalty by the Patriots. The 11-play drive included an 18-yard run by Till to Stevenson’s 19-yard line. But after Jake Stauner ran from inside the 5-yard line to inside the 1-yard line, Till was unsuccessful punching it in for the touchdown from about a half-yard out on fourth down.

Later in the quarter, the Bears got to within field goal range thanks mostly to Till’s keeper runs. Mike Leiva’s field goal was blocked, however, with Lake Zurich falling on the ball on the 2-yard line. Thus began Micucci’s fateful drive of 98 yards, starting with a 28-yard strike to Nick Constantini. Micucci then connected with Morrissey for 13 yards, moving the Patriots to their own 42-yard line.

Micucci then passed to Troy Radtke for a 15-yard completion before letting running back Kevin Foley take over on the ground while chewing up the remaining time on the clock. Foley broke through into the end zone on the 13th play of the drive.

Bears Pause: Zach Till went 8-for-18 passing, good for 90 yards and two picks. He rushed for 105 yards on 26 carries with two touchdowns. Mike Shield netted 71 yards on 17 totes. Stevenson’s quarterback Matt Micucci was a solid 18-for-23 passing, good for 246 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Anthony Bozin gained 84 yards on the ground with 24 carries for Stevenson.