Lake Forest had to go to plan B. De La Salle was intent on containing running back Hub Cirame, so it fell upon the shoulders of quarterback Regis Durbin to pick up the slack and the senior filled the gap quite well.
The Scouts advanced to their second straight Class 6A quarterfinal by defeating an injury-depleted De La Salle team 27-7 Friday night
“Hub is a marked man and somebody else had to shoulder the load,” Scouts coach Chuck Spagnoli said. “[Durbin] did a tremendous job tonight.”
It wasn’t till the fourth Lake Forest offensive series of the game that the adjustment was made to rely more on Durbin. He led the Scouts (9-2) on a 56-yard touchdown drive, throwing three times for 28 yards. Cirame finished the drive with a one-yard plunge for a 7-0 Scouts lead.
“If a play is not happening, Regis always seems to turn it into something good,” Scouts offensive tackle Danny Sullivan said. “He takes it to the next level and he’ll go someplace else with it.”
Durbin continued his momentum by leading another scoring drive that ended with kicker Kyle Gattari making the first of two 21-yard field goals for a 10-0 lead.
Durbin’s 44-yard touchdown on a read-option run put the Scouts ahead 17-0 with over two minutes remaining in the first half and firmly shifted the momentum to Lake Forest. Durbin threw for 133 yards and ran for 105 on the night. Cirame was held to 76 yards on 25 carries.
“I thought the zone read worked really well,” Durbin said. “I don’t pull the ball back that often but the end was giving me the read so that I could.”
The Meteors (6-5) were already missing Vanderbilt recruit Mikale Wilbon at tailback and quarterback Shelby Spence from previous injuries. But just this week they suffered two more injuries to key starters in Syracuse-bound offensive tackle Aaron Roberts and linebacker Anthony Pierce, who is the team’s leading tackler.
Sophomore Tom Duddleston filled in at quarterback and Collin Farley replaced Wilbon at tailback. The Meteors were able to sustain three first-half drives but came up short on fourth-down plays on all three drives. Farley finished with 94 yards on 26 carries.
De La Salle eventually scored as Bryce Sutherland wrestled a ball away from a Scouts defender for an eight-yard touchdown reception midway through the fourth quarter.
The Scouts’ final touchdown came off a 30-yard Geno Quaid run.
The Lake Forest defense was led by linebacker Jack Traynor, who recorded a sack, three tackles for loss and 11 tackles overall.
