Wildcats set to face Devils in huge game
By Bryan Bonato Contributor October 7, 2011 12:16AM
Libertyville's Max Ebert (right) tries to get pass Zion-Benton's Carlton Reynolds for a first down in last Thursday's game. | Michael Schmidt~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: December 12, 2011 4:01PM
This one is big.
Libertyville High School’s football team will be putting it all on the line on Friday night (7:30 p.m.), when the Wildcats host a dangerous team from Warren (2-5).
The Wildcats, who defeated Zion-Benton 21-10 last Thursday, improved to 4-3 overall. They will try to get that key fifth win against Warren, which lost 27-19 to Lake Forest last Thursday.
Junior quarterback Jack Diechl threw a pair of touchdown passes in the win over the Zee-Bees. He connected with Justin Guarnacio for a 20-yard score and with Max Ebert on a 44-yard score on a screen pass.
Libertyville also scored on Ed Pike’s 22-yard run.
“We made a lot of great plays tonight,” said Libertyville head coach Randy Kuceyeski. “We need a lot of positive plays (on Friday) if we’re going to pick up our fifth win and make the playoffs.”
Zion-Benton got on the board first last Thursday, when Hannah Magiera made a 26-yard field goal.
But it was 21-3 before the Bees tallied a late score on a 52-yard pass from Chris Williams to Carlton Reynolds.
This was Diechl’s third start under center.
“Jack had a really nice game tonight,” Kuceyeski said. “He continues to get better each week. We had a couple turnovers tonight that we need to clean up.”
Diechl was 7 for 13 and finished the night with 103 passing yards. Ebert was the top receiver: 3 catches, 61 yards. Jack Crandall had two receptions for 24 yards.
The leading rushers were Joey Salata (15 attempts, 71 yards) and Pike (8-64).
On the defensive end, Michael Parker came up with several big plays. He sacked the Zion-Benton QB three times and finished the game with six tackles.
Drew Krinitsky had another big outing. He finished with seven tackles, including three for loss. He also had a QB hurry.
Stephen Skul nearly matched that effort. He had six tackles, including two for loss. He also recovered a fumble.
Salata continues to be a two-way standout for the Wildcats. Besides being the team’s top rusher, the junior wound up with a team-best 10 tackles (9 solo). He also had a tipped pass and an interception.
All told, Libertyville had three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Clay Cusek and Dan Tropple had the other picks. And senior star Luke Mathewson had a fumble recovery to go along with two QB hurries.
The other leader tacklers were AJ Schmidt (6), Kevin Thompson (5) and Logan Klepac (5).
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