Wildcats are a security risk
Devils must take care of ball vs. ‘D’ forcing two turnovers a game
At Warren, taking care of the football is important enough to have its own saying.
“We say that ‘Ball security is job security,’ ” Warren coach Bryan McNulty said. “We preach ball security every day. If youwant to play, you’ve got to take care of the ball.”
Taking care of the ball will be of the utmost importance Friday at Libertyville, where first place in the rigorous North Suburban Conference Lake Division will be on the line.
The Blue Devils (4-2, 4-0), who are riding a four-game winning streak that includes a 30-27 victory last week over defending Class 8A state champion Stevenson, takes on the undefeated Wildcats (6-0, 4-0) at 7:30 p.m.
Warren, which had trouble taking care of the ball during its 0-2 start, faces a Libertyville defense that is averaging two turnovers a game. The Wildcats, who also have beaten Stevenson, often convert those turnovers into points.
“We were turning the ball over the first couple of weeks, but we got that out of our system,” McNulty said. “Our tendency now is to not turn the ball over. We’ve gotten a lot better at that. That Libertyville defense is as good as we’ve seen, and they’re good at forcing turnovers.”
Last week, the Libertyville defense, led by opportunistic linebacker Riley Buncic, forced three Lake Zurich fumbles, two of which came early and set the tone. The Wildcats won 41-21.
“That’s been a huge factor for us, getting those turnovers,” Libertyville coach Mike Jones said. “We knew we’d be good on offense this year, but we just weren’t sure how good we’d be on defense. A big key for us has turned out to be how well the defense has played, and a lot of that comes down to the turnovers.”
Of course, there is plenty of excitement on the other side of the ball for Libertyville. Quarterback Riley Lees, a Northwestern recruit, is one of the most dynamic players in the Chicago area.
While running is his specialty (he ran for 266 yards and had touchdown runs of 80, 61 and 78 yards against Stevenson two weeks ago), Lees also is dangerous as a passer. Against Lake Zurich, he completed 16 of 26 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns.
“A lot has to do with what the defense gives him,” Jones said. “We were given running opportunities in previous games, and he took advantage. Lake Zurich was really looking to stop Riley in the run game. He worked really hard during the offseason on the passing game, and we saw what he could do. It really came together for him against Lake Zurich.”
Henry Schmidt (six catches for 100 yards against Lake Zurich), Cam Shaffer (six catches, 70 yards) and Tim Calamari are the targets Lees looks to most.
Warren is equally diverse at wide receiver and sometimes will use five at a time.
Nick Marcinkus, Jalin Tolbert and Micah Jones get the most looks from quarterback Kyle Debevec, a senior who was inserted into the starting spot to shake up the offense after the Blue Devils’ 0-2 start. Warren scored just 16 points in its first two games.
Warren also has a dangerous running game. Darrius Crump is one of the most elusive running backs in the conference. He’s coming off a 156-yard, two-touchdown effort against Stevenson and is averaging more than 100 yards per game.
“He’s the best runner we’ve seen so far,” Jones said. “He doesn’t go down easy. He’s got good vision. He will be a big challenge for our defense.”