Brinlee Leads the Way to Bears First Playoff Victory

On a sunny late October afternoon at Mel Eide Field, the host Lake Zurich Bears didn't disappoint their fans as they cruised to an easy victory over the Jacobs Golden Eagles.

Jacob Brinlee ran back the opening kickoff for a 77-yard  touchdown run, giving the Bears a 7-0 lead four seconds into the first quarter. On Lake Zurich's next possession, quarterback Zach Till ran for a 49-yard gain to the 4-yard line. Till then ran for a 4-yard touchdown to give the Bears a 14-0 lead with 7:41 remaining in the first quarter.

The Bears' front line repeatedly stopped the Golden Eagles' offense from any significant gains. Linebacker J.J. Raffelson sacked Jacobs quarterback Jason Judson with 6:33 left in the first quarter.

Cas Zyks had the Golden Eagles' first big offensive play when he rushed for 22 yards with 3:30 left in the first quarter. Judson's 14-yard pass to Kyle Wright gave Jacobs first and goal on the five-yard line. Wright then ran the ball in on the first play of the second quarter for what would turn out to be the Golden Eagles' only score.

Lake Zurich running back John Mularz broke off a 36-yard run on the Bears' next possession to put the ball on Jacobs' 19-yard line. After a 9-yard run and an 11-yard run by Mike Lynn, the Bears upped their lead to 21-7 with 10:12 left in the second quarter. Then a 35-yard run by Mularz (10-142) opened up the Bears lead to 28-7 with 7:39 left in the second half.

The Bears' ironclad defense shut down Jacobs all game; Kiah McGee sacked Judson for a loss on Jacobs' own 15-yard line with 5:39 remaining in the half.
Brinlee then ran for a 56-yard touchdown with 5:30 to go until halftime. The Bears missed the extra point, making the score 34-7 at the half.

There was very little offense in the second half of the game.  On defense, the Bears' William Hussey sacked Judson with 4:56 left in the third quarter.

The Bears' final scoring drive featured a 27-yard run by Mularz to the 10-yard line. He followed that with a 2-yard run into the end zone for the final score of the game with 1:38 left in the third quarter.

"It will be interesting to see how our kids do in the off season," said Golden Eagles head coach Bill Mitz. "Lake Zurich has a great, balanced team. Brinlee is an incredible player."

"This is just one win in the playoffs," said the Bears' Zach Till. "There's still a lot of football left to play."

Brinlee set a new career rushing mark with his 50-yard run in the first half, eclipsing the old mark of 2,915. He now has  3,029 yards and counting. He finished the game 11-141, one yard less than Mularz. The Golden Eagle's Zyks rushed for 57 yards on 20 carries to lead his team.