Behind quarterback DeAndre Green, Zion-Benton could get to five wins

Moral victories don’t count toward the five wins a high school football team in Illinois needs in order to be eligible for the playoffs.

But what Zion-Benton’s near-miss 24-21 loss at Warren last week did was provide a reminder that five wins are still possible this fall, and that postseason football could return to the far northeast corner of the state for the first time since 2003, when Gary Bereiter was at the helm.

Currently, the Zee-Bees (2-3) are in a situation in which they must win three of their final four games, and also root for nonconference opponents Antioch, Waukegan and Westosha Central (Wis.) to start/keep winning in order to improve Zion’s strength of schedule. Total wins by a team’s opponents will determine which 5-4 teams make the playoffs and which don’t.

But first things first.

For Zion, the first thing is beating Mundelein (3-2) on Friday night. The Mustangs and Zee-Bees are parallel players in football. Annually, they are the two bottom-feeders in the North Suburban Lake, and any playoff scenario for both teams requires winning this matchup.

As of now, Mundelein is ahead of Z-B on paper in terms of won-loss record, but that’s because Mundelein has already played and won all its winnable nonconference games while Zion has yet to play Antioch.

The bottom line is that in order to make the playoffs, Zion-Benton or Mundelein must beat either Stevenson, Lake Zurich, Warren, Lake Forest or Libertyville.

Lose all five of those games to NSC Lake powers and playoff hopes are dead.

So far, Mundelein is 0-2 this year against those five teams, and Zion is 0-3.

Which is where Zion’s 24-21 loss to Warren comes into play.

In the past 10-plus seasons, Zion-Benton is 2-51 in games against the five top teams in the NSC Lake. But that near-miss against Warren suggests that Zion could … C-O-U-L-D … somehow beat Mundelein this week, Antioch next week, and then prevail against either Stevenson or Lake Forest in order to finish 5-4.

Even Warren coach Bryan McNulty was impressed with the Zee-Bees. He said after last week’s game, “We know Zion is a good team. Bob (Moynihan, Zion’s coach) does a great job with those kids over there. There was no question to us that we were going to have to come out and play, and I think people who are sleeping on Zion are making a big mistake.”

For his part, Moynihan knows there’s more work to be done and more improvements to be made.

“The culture is changing,” he said after the Warren game. “But we still have those things where we have those discipline breakdowns, where we need to get better at doing our assignments and what we’re taught to do. But they’re getting better. There are fewer mistakes. There are fewer penalties. They’re just not quite there yet.

“They haven’t figured out how to beat this type of team, but they’ll get there.”

Leading Zion’s charge is junior option quarterback DeAndre Green, who has grown from prospect into playmaker this season.

“I’m definitely feeling more comfortable (running the offense). I have to give a lot of credit to the line, and our receivers, who did a great job both catching and blocking,” Green said after the loss to Warren.

He ran 19 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns in that game, and was 14-for-20 passing for 141 yards.

Perhaps more important than the numbers, he seemed to be a real leader in that game — perhaps one who can lead his team to three more victories this fall.

Real victories. Let the drive for five continue.

[email protected]

Twitter: @JeffBonato

Bryan Bonato contributed to this story.

FOOTBALL: FRIDAY’S GAMES

Central Suburban North

Deerfield (3-2) at Highland Park (1-4)

Maine West (3-2) at Niles North (2-3)

Maine East (0-5) at Glenbrook North (4-1)

Central Suburban South

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Evanston (3-2) at Niles West (1-4)

Glenbrook South (3-2) at Maine South (3-2)

Waukegan (2-3) at New Trier (5-0)

East Suburban Catholic

St. Viator (1-4) at Carmel (2-3)

St. Patrick (2-3) at Marist (3-2)

Joliet Catholic (5-0) at Marian Catholic (1-4)

Benet (4-1) at Nazareth (4-1)

Marian Central (4-1) at Notre Dame (4-1)

North Suburban Lake

Lake Zurich (2-3) at Libertyville (5-0)

Stevenson (3-2) at Warren (3-2)

Mundelein (3-2) at Zion-Benton (2-3)

North Suburban Prairie

North Chicago (1-4) at Antioch (3-2)

Round Lake (0-5) at Lakes (3-2)

Wauconda (1-4) at Vernon Hills (5-0)

Nonconference

Grayslake Central (0-5) at Danville (1-4)

Grant (1-4) at Lake Forest (3-2)

Saturday

Nonconference

De La Salle (1-4) at Lake Forest Academy (1-4)