Bears take advantage of early lead

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:18PM

During the season's first two weeks, Lake Zurich had to struggle for all 48 minutes before finally pulling out a pair of fourth-quarter wins. On Friday night in North Chicago, the Bears opted for an easier road to victory.

Fifth-ranked Lake Zurich (3-0) forced three first-half turnovers and never looked back, beating the host Warhawks 36-0 in a North Suburban crossover. Star running back Jacob Brinlee ran for a touchdown in the first quarter and caught another in the second before coming out in the middle of the first half when the game was out of reach. He finished with 50 total yards.

"It was great to get off to a fast start, it's nice to have that under our belt because now we know we can score early," Brinlee said. "I'd rather have stayed on the field and kept playing, but it was good to get the other guys some experience."

The Bears also got big contributions from their defense, which stalled the North Chicago offense from the opening whistle. Linebacker JJ Raffelson recorded half of the team's four sacks, including a safety where he chased Warhawk quarterback Abel Williams back into the end zone from the 15-yard line. Lake Zurich also snatched a pair of interceptions and recovered three fumbles.

"I thought the entire defense was outstanding, all 11 guys were swarming to the ball" said Raffelson. "Our unit has really held strong all season. Today we really had a great effort on all four downs and had a great all-around game."

Mike Shield, John Murlaz and Brandon Markert all rushed for touchdowns for the Bears, who played second- and third-string players in the entire second half.

North Chicago fell to 0-3 on the season.

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