Scouting St. Edward at Rockford Lutheran

St. Edward (1-0) at Rockford Lutheran (1-0)

Game time: 7 p.m. Friday

Last year: St. Edward 57, Lutheran 7

Last week: St. Edward 21, Hampshire 13; Lutheran 62, Chicago Noble Street Charter 0

Outlook: There's more than one Elgin connection to this nonconference game. New Lutheran coach Bruce Bazsali, the former Elk Grove coach, is a 1960s graduate of Elgin High. Bazsali took over at Lutheran this season and promptly ended the Crusaders' 17-game losing streak with last week's season-opening victory. The Crusaders were led in that win by sophomore tailback Bran Esparza (7 carries, 82 yards, m 2 TDs). "They spread it out 4-5 wide and they have some good quick receivers," said St. Edward coach Mike Rolando. "Their quarterback throws a nice ball and they've got some electric players. You have to watch out for any team that puts up 62 points no matter who they were playing." Rolando was pleased with his team's performance in last week's win, a victory that earned the Green Wave the No. 10 ranking in this week's Class 4A AP state poll. "We don't really talk about it too much," said Rolando of the ranking. "We expect to get better every year and for us to get better this year we want a conference championship and a playoff win. If we do those things people notice and you get some recognition. We're happy about it but we gotta go out and win Friday night." Sophomore Maurice Jackson had a nice varsity debut for the Wave last week with 81 yards in 14 carries. Senior QB Ben Lehman threw for 90 yards and senior Sam Pozezinski caught a 21-yard TD pass in the third quarter that turned out to be the game-winner for St. Edward. "Our defense won the game," Rolando said. "Ryan Johnson had a nice game at corner with six pass deflections and 5 tackles, Bobby Waclawick played real well at outside linebacker and Sean Richmond played real well at free safety. We had eight juniors starting on defense and it was nice to see the way they flew to the ball. I think we learned we've got more players than what we thought."

Next week: Immaculate Conception at St. Edward; North Boone at Lutheran.