The LHS varsity football team’s playoff run came to an end this Saturday after the Cats were defeated by the Cary-Grove Trojans 41-7 at Walter R. Johnson Sports Complex.
After winning three straight playoff games against Lincoln Park, Addison Trail, and Fenwick, the Cats were then matched up with number-one seeded Cary-Grove, a team that has many players going to play Division I football next year. Cary’s attack and strategy was to run the ball early and often.
Trojan running back Tyler Pennington had a nice day running through holes made by offensive linemen Trevor Ruhland, who is committed to Notre Dame, and Michael Gomez, who is being recruited by Army. With all this talent on Cary-Grove, the Cats stood tough in the first half and went into halftime down 20-7. The Cats touchdown came on a great drive that included a 4th and 11 conversion in the Cary-Grove red zone which then set up a Lees three yard score.
The LHS defense had only given up 17 points in the first three games of the playoffs, a terrific accomplishment. As the defense stepped up, the Cats made a great run to get to the state semifinal game. Making it to the final four teams of the 7A division of Illinois after a 4-5 2013-2014 season and missing the playoffs, is a great improvement, and it took a whole team effort to make it happen.
During the regular season, the Cats defense struggled at times against some of their better conference opponents like Warren, Lake Forest, and Stevenson, but when playoff time came, the whole defense turned it up a few notches. A 47-0 shutout against Lincoln Park gave the team a huge boost of momentum that carried into a huge defensive performance by a LHS. The Cats’ defense shut down Addison Trail by getting to the quarterback multiple times and creating turnovers.
The Cats next matchup was against a Fenwick team that had just beaten LHS archrival Carmel. On a frigid day, both offenses had trouble getting going. After halftime, the Cats’ offense got going when quarterback Riley Lees ran 80 yards for a touchdown. Lees later found Henry Schmidt for a touchdown to give the Cats a comfortable lead and a ticket to the semifinals.
This last Saturday, the Cats were overmatched by a physical Cary-Grove team. Cary-Grove will play Providence Catholic for the 7A state title at Memorial Stadium in Champaign this Saturday. The Cats’ 6-3 regular season warranted them the 11-seed out of 16 in the playoffs, and they proved that they were better than that in the postseason. Libertyville now looks to build on their success for future seasons.
