Connor Vanselow’s first crack at varsity football has turned out to be smoother than even he could have envisioned.
The Wauconda sophomore’s increasing backfield production was one of many positive storylines for the Bulldogs in their 41-7 win at home against Northern Lake County Conference rival Lakes in a Class 6A first-round playoff game Friday night.
Next up for Wauconda (10-0) is a second-round home game against Prairie Ridge (8-2), which beat Vernon Hills 49-0.
“It’s definitely a step up from last year, but my teammates have been very encouraging,” Vanselow said. “I didn’t really see this coming, but I’ve just kept working hard.”
Vanselow’s enhanced workload, which resulted in 130 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries against Lakes (5-5), gives the Bulldogs’ run game a triple threat, as he complements senior mainstays Colin Husko and quarterback Vince Bennett. The trio combined for 345 rushing yards and six touchdowns on a drippy late-October night that was tailor-made for Wauconda to churn out yards on the ground.
Vanselow also has been thrust into a linebacker role due to a teammate’s injury.
“Last time we played them (a 29-13 win on Oct. 1), they were keying on Colin, and that opened up more holes for me,” Vanselow said. “Colin is great, and I take what I can get.”
While Wauconda’s ground game was firing on all cylinders, the defense was handed a 21-0 lead seven minutes before halftime.
Defensive mastery has been a season-long theme, with Wauconda tallying four shutouts and allowing 82 points in the program’s first-ever undefeated regular season.
The Bulldogs’ main task Friday was to bottle up Lakes’ 1,000-yard rusher, Mark Hunter, and the unit came through with flying colors. Hunter finished with only 8 yards on six carries and didn’t have his rushing tally move into positive territory until the final minute of the third quarter.
“They’re just tough to get yards against,” said Hunter, who was holding sore ribs after the game. “We had some injuries, and they know how to play us. And being behind made it more difficult.”
The game actually started in positive fashion for Lakes, with the Eagles recovering a Wauconda fumble on the opening kickoff.
But the momentum was short-lived.
Lakes could only manage three-and-outs on its first three possessions to start the game. By the time the Eagles recorded their initial first down midway through the second quarter, Wauconda had its 21-0 lead, and the Eagles were forced into passing the ball much more than they would have preferred.
“We didn’t want to come in overly cocky, so we focused on both teams being 0-0 (in the playoffs),” Wauconda senior defensive lineman Ryan Stephan said. “Playing humble like that really makes us play our best. You could tell, as we scored more and got more and more stops, it took the will out of them.”
Bennett’s 1-yard and 57-yard touchdowns and Vanselow’s 40-yard TD built that lead, which was answered by Lakes’ lone big play of the night, Max Bausch’s 62-yard pass to Hunter. Bennett had 116 yards on eight carries.
Husko, who had 99 yards on 17 carries, and Vanselow each had 15-yard TD runs in the third quarter, and Husko’s 1-yard TD run with 7:09 remaining pushed the advantage to 41-7.
“We try to stay day-by-day. Looking ahead too much messes with our heads a little bit,” Husko said. “We know what we have down the road, but we’re taking in one game and one play at a time.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.