Libertyville’s ‘D’ shines in shutout loss

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Libertyville's AJ Schmidt (No. 15) breaks up a pass attempt to Stevenson's Anthony Bozin during the first quarter of Friday's game. | Brian O'Mahoney~for Sun-Times Media

Updated: November 28, 2011 12:15AM

Randy Kuceyeski was expecting a little more from his offense.

“By now, I was hoping that we had figured it out,” said the veteran Libertyville High School football coach following his team’s 13-0 loss to host Stevenson Friday night.

But it was easy for Kuceyeski to defend his team’s defensive play.

“It was our best defensive game of the year,” he said. “Definitely, our best hitting game.”

Talk about a team effort. All 11 Wildcats were making plays. In fact, six Cats finished the Week 5 game with at least six tackles.

Junior safety Joey Salata wound up with a team-high seven solos, along with two assists. He also forced a fumble.

Other top producers were Michael Parker (3 solos, 6 assists), Drew Krinitsky (5 solos, 2 assists), Clay Cusek (4 solos, 3 assists), Stephen Skul (4 solos, 2 assists) and AJ Schmidt (4 solos, 2 assists).

“We’re not overly big, but we do a good job of swarming to the ball,” Kuceyeski said.

For the most part, the Wildcats (3-2) were able to hold down the Patriots (4-1), whose high-powered offense entered the game with 101 points in four games.

Stevenson’s lone touchdown came on the opening series (12 plays, 67 yards). Kevin Foley (31 carries, 130 yards) ran the ball 10 times on the drive before capping it off with a 2-yard TD run.

Stevenson also scored on a pair of field goals by Matt Micucci. He connected on a 28-yarder with 4:40 left in the second quarter and added a 26-yarder on the first play of the fourth.

The Wildcats had a goal-line stand in the third quarter, when Schmidt recovered a fumble in the end zone.

It’s never easy being shut out. But the Wildcats did manage to move the ball.

In fact, with senior Hutch Herchenbach (6-for-13, 42 yards, interception) behind center, the Wildcats put together an impressive 17-play, 80-yard drive on their first series of the fourth quarter. But the drive stalled at the Stevenson 3-yard line after a couple of incomplete passes on third and fourth down.

The series featured three catches (for 29 yards) by Austin Williams and four carries (24 yards) by Salata.

Kuceyeski inserted Herchenbach to start the second half in an effort to spark the team.

“Both of our quarterbacks (including junior Jack Deichl) are equal — very close in talent,” the coach said. “I didn’t hesitate to bring in Herchenbach. I was just trying to get something going.”

The Wildcats also had to go without their featured running back — Brian Swift — in the second half. Just before sustaining an ankle injury late in the second quarter, the junior — averaging 7.1 yards per carry for 479 yards rushing — had popped a 24-yard gain.

“He’s our go-to guy,” Kuceyeski said.

Honored: Before the game, Stevenson recognized retiring skipper Kuceyeski, who’s battling cancer, with a special donation to the University of Chicago Hospital in his name.

“It was a class act,” Kuceyeski said. “I’ve had a lot of great memories coaching here. Unfortunately, my last one is not as good.”

Junior rich: Kuceyeski and his staff are leaning heavily on their junior class. Fifteen juniors are either starting or seeing significant minutes.

In fact, Friday’s entire offensive line — Shaun McCracken, Nick Carlino, Matsen Dziedzic, Simo Dragin and Brandon Stanfel — are members of the 2013 class.

And there’s a long list of juniors at skill positions on offense: Justin Guarnaccio, Charles Kosmach, Deichl, Salata, Swift and Williams.

On the schedule: It won’t get any easier for this young squad. The Wildcats will host Lake Zurich (4-1), which took runner-up honors in the 2010 Class 7A state playoffs, at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“It’s going to be a good test,” Kuceyeski said.