Lake Zurich showed the rest of Class 6A that it is playoff ready, as the Bears dominated all three phases on their way to a convincing 49-9 road victory over playoff-bound Stevenson on Friday night in Lincolnshire.

The win put the finishing touches on a seven-win regular season for Lake Zurich, a sizable improvement on their four-win campaign from 2024.

“Obviously a big step from last year,” said Lake Zurich quarterback Reid Pfeifer. “I think our offseason training and all the work we have put in, [and] all the seniors have really stepped up. … I think that helps tremendously on what we are trying to accomplish, which is a state championship.”

The Bears took momentum early in this one on a 55-yard punt return touchdown by two-way starter Evan Peterson that made it a two-score game with 1:12 to play in the first quarter.

“[Evan’s] a competitor. He’s just an absolute competitor,” said Lake Zurich coach Ron Planz. “When you’re a competitor and you go out and make plays like that, those things happen.”

Later on, a 24-yard interception return touchdown by linebacker Arturo Zarinana broke the game wide open in the third quarter.

The Patriots simply never got their footing, and a stunned Stevenson student section eventually made an unexpectedly early trip to the exits.

“I don’t know if there was anyone behind me or anything, but he threw it right on my chest,” said a grinning Zarinana, recalling his first varsity touchdown. “I just knew I had to try something, and I took it home all the way.”

Combining their special teams and defensive scores with five rushing touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball resulted in a bounce-back performance for the Bears after a letdown loss to Warren in Week 8 that snapped Lake Zurich’s six-game winning streak.

“The defense played awesome. Special teams played awesome,” said Planz about his team’s Week 9 effort. “I told the guys, if we played like we played last week against Warren, there’s not going to be many teams that can play with us.”

Despite the lopsided final score, Stevenson (6-3, 5-2) did get the scoring started in this one after Patriots quarterback Aidan Crawley found wide receiver Brandon Hersh for 40 yards to cross midfield on their opening drive and set up an early trip to the red zone.

But the Bears stood tough and forced a 19-yard field goal, holding Stevenson to the only three points it would score until the closing minutes.

“I think we really came out on defense and set the tone with that big stop,” said Pfeifer. “It was a huge stop.”

From that point forward, it was all Lake Zurich, with the Patriots struggling to protect the football.

Lake Zurich took advantage of a muffed Patriots punt return on the next drive to give themselves a red-zone possession that resulted in a 1-yard Chris Chang touchdown run for the Bears.

After forcing the Stevenson offense off the field on the ensuing three plays, Peterson made his aforementioned house call.

The Bears defense quickly forced another punt, and Lake Zurich went on a nine-play drive that ended in a Pfeifer touchdown run from 1 yard out, making it 21-3.

With their backs against the wall, the Patriots stumbled yet again, fumbling the ball away on the second play of their next drive inside their own 20. The game got out of hand from that point forward.

The Bears punched in another touchdown on another 1-yard Chang carry. Three plays later, Zarinana picked off an errant Stevenson pass, and the rout was on with his score.

The Bears also added touchdowns from Kaden Abrantes and Ryan Hasemeyer as the game went to a running clock late. The Patriots found the end zone on a Ryan Jacobson carry with two minutes to play.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251024/prep-football/lake-zurich-heads-into-postseason-with-momentum-after-blowout-win-over-stevenson/