Lake Forest offense is rounding into top form

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It’s way too early to consider Lake Forest High School a threat to traditional powers Stevenson and Lake Zurich in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division football race.

But helped by a perfectly designed schedule, the young Scouts are getting a chance to grow as players and gain confidence — and win games in the process.

On opening night, it was an easy victory over Dunbar from the lightly regarded Chicago Public League.

This Friday night, the Scouts hit the road and dominated outclassed Grant 57-25 in another nonconference game in Fox Lake.

And next Friday, Lake Forest will be well-positioned to move to 3-0 when it plays another nonconference game at Wauconda.

After that will come the big boys of the North Suburban Conference Lake Division. But by then, all the new players in the Scouts’ lineup with have 12 quarters of action under their belts and, most likely, three victories.

Friday’s win over Grant was not precision-like, but Lake Forest got the job done — especially on offense where the yards and points came in bunches.

Junior quarterback Daniel Carollo was 8-of-10 passing for 182 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed four times for 23 yards and a score.

Speedy running back Wes Janeck (he didn’t play as a junior for medical reasons) had 10 carries for 130 yards and scored on runs of 80, five and one yards.

Quinn Julian (7-106) and Leo Theodore (6-54-1 TD) also ran the ball well, as the Scouts had 326 yards rushing and 218 passing.

“This year, I really prepared myself. I worked hard in the offseason, said Janeck. “I missed last year, and I was so pumped up to play this year.

When I came in my freshman year, I looked up to Owen Williams. That was the guy I wanted to be,” Janeck added. “Then there was Hub (Cirame). It was awesome to have those guys come before me, for me to watch and learn from them. Now it’s my senior year, and hopefully I can live up to that running-back crew we’ve had here.”

Scouts coach Chuck Spagnoli certainly was satisfied with his team’s play on offense (kickoff return coverage was suspect and was a weak link).

“Our offense was tremendous. They were on the field for only a short amount of time, but they were as productive as I’ve ever seen,” Spagnoli sid. “They played outstanding.

“Defensively let’s just call it about as inconsistent as we’ve played in a long, long time,” the coach said. “We didn’t particularly attack the point of attack, and we were soft taking on blocks. We didn’t do a good job tackling. Other than that, we were great.”

For Grant, which has now given up 99 points in two losses, the offensive highlights were provided by Kemar Miller (98-yard kickoff return and three receptions for 74 yards), fullback Tim Hollins (24-165-1 TD rushing), running back John Bettis (10-71 rushing), and wingback Jeremy Bredwood (9-22 rushing). Quarterback Spencer Lhotka completed 6-of-9 passes for 85 yards and a TD.

Grant ran the ball 51 times for 263 yards and scored just often enough to keep the game from kicking into running-clock mode.

“Kemar is a tremendous football player. He does a lot of good things,” said Grant’s first-year coach Vito Andriola.

Alas for the Red/White, the defense didn’t measure up.

“The defense wasn’t just disappointing, it was embarrassing,” Andriola said. “I think offensively we’re starting to become a football team. We have less moving parts on offense. It takes awhile to learn both systems, because they’re new. That’s a fact.”

Grant will host powerhouse Lakes next Friday in North Suburban Conference Prairie Division action.

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