Lakes tuned up for next week’s winner-take-all showdown at Grant by scoring 10 times in a 69-20 blowout of visiting Wauconda on Friday night.

The Eagles put up a school-record point total en route to improving to 5-1 on the season (the only loss was to Lake Forest, which hasn’t lost on the field all season).

Grant also is 5-1 (loss to big-school power Stevenson) and both teams are unbeaten in North Suburban Conference Prairie Division play.

Lakes running back Direll Clark rushed 23 times for 197 yards and scored four touchdowns on runs of six, six, one and nine yards. He also had 61 receiving yards on two catches.

But as the final score suggests, he wasn’t alone in putting up monster numbers against a Wauconda defense that, truth be told, probably played better than the final score would suggest. The Bulldogs are now 3-3 and play winless Round Lake next Saturday.

Lakes scored on its first three possessions. Clark’s six-yard run capped an opening nine-play, 57-yard drive for a 7-0 lead. Four minutes later, Clark’s five-yard run made it 14-0. A botched punt attempt set up the 46-yard drive.

On the very next play from scrimmage, Mike Brey picked off a pass, and on the play after that, Lakes quarterback T.J. Edwards threw a 33-yard scoring strike to Jon Gomulka and it was 21-0.

That gives you an idea of how the night went.

It was 41-20 at halftime, and didn’t kick into running-clock mode until the fourth quarter at 55-20.

For the game, Edwards completed 10-of-15 passes for 295 yards and three touchdown. He also carried nine times for 14 yards and a score. Andrew Spencer caught two passes for 104 yards and one touchdown, and Justin Bergeron had two catches for 53 yards and a touchdown.

“Everybody did their job today,” said Clark, who was announced as Homecoming king while he was in the locker room at halftime. “I was with the team in the locker room (when it was announced. The queen was Michelle Verga, who came out at halftime wearing Direll’s white road jersey with the big No. 20 on it.). We were talking about double-teams on the line and what cuts I needed to make.

“T.J. was great. He can throw the ball and run it. He’s the total package.”

Lakes coach Luke Mertens, unbelievably, given the score, was not happy with the way Wauconda quarterback Austin Swenson picked apart the Eagle defense in the first half. Swenson was 17-of-33 passing for 224 yards and two touchdowns. He also had seven rushes for 25 yards and a score.

“We knew they could score a lot of points very quickly,” Mertens said. “They did it against Grant (a 46-39 loss) which is a very good team. We wanted our guys to know this game w as far from over ... that we were playing an opponent that could put up points like they did to us in the first half.

“We’ll find out how good we are next week against Grant,” Mertens added.

Wauconda played for the second straight week without star running back David Starkey (knee injury).