Patriots defeat Lake Forest 43-12, continue strong start

After a tough start to the season losing to Palatine in their home opener, the Patriots have now won back-to-back games. Last week, Stevenson went to Muskegon High School in Michigan, beating one of the best teams in their state. This past Friday, Stevenson came back home to play their first North Suburban Conference game of the season against Lake Forest. Coming into the game, Lake Forest was leading the conference 2-0, but Stevenson put on an absolute clinic of how to play the game of football, beating the Scouts 43-12.

The game started off with both teams having good first drives but getting stopped just short by the opposing defense. Lake Forest drove the ball deep into Stevenson territory, but couldn’t convert a fourth down and gave the ball to Stevenson. On Stevenson’s first drive, they were picking up first downs, until a couple of penalties derailed them. However, after those first two drives, both teams went their separate directions.

Stevenson opened their scoring tally on a safety after a bad snap by Lake Forest; it went over everybody and into the end zone, giving the Patriots an easy two points. However, it didn’t take long for quarterback Aidan O’Connell ’17 to get going. On the next drive it only took Stevenson four plays to score their first touchdown of the evening. Later on in the half, Lake Forest was finally able to get on the score sheet, but Stevenson answered with a great final drive to end the half, going up 23-7.

It didn’t take long for Stevenson to score in the second half. On the first drive after the break, O’Connell only needed three plays to add to the scoring, hooking up with Henry Marchese ’17 for a beautiful 56-yard touchdown down the Stevenson sideline. The nail in the coffin came in Stevenson’s next drive, as Matt Korinek ’17 ran it in for a touchdown, giving the Patriots a 37-6 lead.

O‘Connell himself only played three quarters but still managed to complete 19-26 passes for 294 yards and three scores. One of his main targets of the game, Anthony Sibo ’17, played a huge factor in the passing game, setting up good opportunities for Stevenson to run the ball. As always the Marchese brothers had a great game, combining for three touchdowns. Not to be forgotten, the defense played its best game of the season, allowing only 12 points. They disrupted Lake Forest quarterback Charlie Reinkemeyer all night, preventing him from successfully passing the ball.