Chicago-Area High School Football News and Scores | Season Pass

ROUND LAKE — Ben Klett made quite an opening statement on Friday night.

The Lake Zurich freshman made his varsity debut a memorable one, scoring a touchdown to help the Bears beat host Round Lake 56-0.

“Ben is great,” senior running back Connor Schrader said. “He’s just a hard worker, and he’s very fast. He’s going to be a star.”

The 6-foot, 185-pound Klett thrilled the visiting fans late in the first quarter when he caught a short pass from senior quarterback Jake Stauner and zoomed past the defense for a 36-yard touchdown that bumped Lake Zurich’s lead to 21-0.

For now, coach Dave Proffitt plans to keep Klett on varsity.

“Ben has a lot of natural ability,” Proffitt said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do.”

Lake Zurich (4-1) wasted little time in disposing of the Panthers (0-5).

On the Bears’ second offensive play, Schrader scored on a 21-yard run. The next time the Bears took over, Schrader turned a dive play into a 37-yard touchdown run.

“The blocking assignments were very good,” Schrader said. “They (the linemen) played low, fast and hard. They did everything they needed to do.”

Schrader rolled up 101 yards on nine carries in the opening half. He also turned a short pass from Stauner into a 35-yard touchdown reception.

The Bears built a 49-0 halftime lead to ignite the running clock. The other touchdowns belonged to junior Colton Moskal on a fumble recovery after Lake Zurich had a field goal attempt blocked, junior Sean Lynch (34-yard run), Stauner (32-yard run) and senior Tyler Lindvall (9-yard run).

Pick up your local Pioneer Press newspaper on Thursday to read more about the Lake Zurich football team.