Diamond sparkles and so does Stevenson

Stevenson's football team came that close to accomplishing one of its defensive goals Friday night.

The Patriots ultimately achieved their bigger goal, and there was never any doubt.

Or was there?

"We seniors felt the pressure all week," cornerback Scott Diamond said. "We knew this was the game of our lives we were playing."

By night's end, Stevenson's seniors could breathe a sign a relief.

The host Patriots mauled Mundelein 56-0 in the two North Suburban Lake Division teams' regular-season finale to all but officially clinch their 20th consecutive state playoff berth, all under head coach Bill Mitz.

"We're pretty proud of that," Mitz said. "The kids are proud of that."

Stevenson (5-4, 4-2) needed a victory against Mundelein (1-8, 1-5) to be playoff-eligible. The Patriots will have more than enough playoff points to earn an at-large berth for the second year in a row.

On a night when the rain held off in Lincolnshire until the second half, the Patriots reined in the first half, building a 14-0 lead after one quarter and extending the margin to 42-0 by intermission.

While the offense had its way, the Stevenson defense contributed, too. Diamond picked off a Joe DeJesus pass at midfield - his second interception of the night - and returned it to the Mundelein 2. On the next snap, Mark Weisman (11 carries, 89 yards) scored the first of his 2 second-quarter touchdowns.

"Same thing happened to me last year," Diamond said of coming up just shy of scoring a touchdown on an interception. "Against North Chicago I got down to the 1.

"Our goal all year has been to get a defensive score. I thought that would be it."

Diamond intercepted Mike O'Donaghue's option pass on the opening series of the game, and four plays later, quarterback Zach Wujcik threw a 32-yard pass to Mike Bilton in the end zone.

Josh Vravick scored on runs of 11 and 4 yards out, before Weisman rushed for his 2 scores. His second was a 40-yard burst. Just before the half ended, Wujcik tossed a middle screen to Bilton, who turned it into a 50-yard scoring play.

Adam Ah Mu shined on kickoff coverage for Stevenson in the first half, making 6 tackles.

"The big thing about our week was to finish," Mitz said. "Every game this year - going back to the (season-opening) Loyola game - we didn't finish. We told the kids, 'We can beat anybody, if we just play to finish a football game.' "

Stevenson got second-half TD runs from Pawel Zuradzki and Vincent Manglardi, and 2 PAT kicks from female Hanna Monson.

"There was pressure, but we knew we were going to win this game," Diamond said. "We had to, because we couldn't let 20 years of tradition (end)."