Scouting Metamora at South Elgin

Metamora (1-0) at South Elgin (1-0)

Game time: 4 p.m. Saturday at Millennium Field

Last year: First meeting

Last week: Metamora 48, Bloomington Central Catholic 24; South Elgin 52, St. Charles North 13.

Outlook: South Elgin gets a chance to knock off a state champion when Class 4A kingpin Metamora comes to town Saturday afternoon, fresh off a 13-1 state title and a thumping of Bloomington CC in the season opener last week. "We thought we had another game for Week 2 but it fell through April 1," said Storm coach Dale Schabert. "I went to a clinic and before every speaker I stood up and asked if anyone had an opening for Week 2. They called and we thought it would be intriguing to play a good solid program like theirs. They don't travel too far usually so it's nice to have them coming up here." South Elgin will travel to Metamora next year. If Week 1 is any indicator, this could be an offensive show for the ages. The teams combined for 100 points and over 800 yards in offense last week. The Redbirds were down 10-0 to BCC last week before storming back to win. Senior Bryan Love and senior quarterback Michael Fay each had 119 yards rushing and Love, who also made 9 tackles on defense, had 2 TDs. Senior kicker Brennen VanMieghem kicked 6 extra points, extending his state record to 218 PAT kicks. The Redbirds are coached by 21st-year mentor Pat Ryan, who notched his 200th career win last week and who also led the program to the 2007 Class 5A state title. "They run the ball really well,"said Schabert. "Their splits are tight and they run a single and double-wing T out of the shotgun. They don't make mistakes and they don't beat themselves." Schabert was more than pleased with his team's performance against St. Charles North, a game in which the Storm rolled up 467 yards of total offense, 336 of them on the ground. Junior Adolfo Pacheco had 233 yards and senior Brad Birchfield 119 and each scored 3 TDs. Senior Kenny Lowden also caught 3 passes for 97 yards and a score. "It's been some years trying to get to this and it's nice," Schabert said. "It's good to see the kids get to this point. They played really well and they paid attention all night. We told the kids you don't get too many opportunities to play a state champ on any level so we're excited about the challenge."

Next week: Lake Park at South Elgin (Saturday); Metamora at Canton.