Week 2 playoffs, East Suburban Catholic: Benet faces tough Cary-Grove defense
Class 7A
No. 12 Benet (8-2) at No. 5 Cary-Grove (9-1)
Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday.
Last week: Benet 21, No. 21 St. Charles North 14; Cary-Grove 48, No. 28 Belleville West 7.
Outlook: After last week's deluge forced Benet to be one-dimensional with running back Alec McEachern and the power ground game rolling up 250 yards, the Redwings are hoping a dry track will allow quarterback Jack Sznajder and the passing game to get more involved. They also hope to get speed back Marty Dosen more carries to ease the burden on McEachern, who had 37 carries. Only twice since Week 4 has Cary-Grove given up more than a touchdown. The defense is led by lineman Erik Norberg and linebacker Kevin Pedersen. The Trojans, averaging 300 rushing yards a game, rushed for 400 last week. Tyler Pennington paces the backs with more than 1,000 yards and 18 touchdowns but five different players have rushed for at least 200 yards and 10 different players have scored rushing touchdowns. With Trent Kramer in Benet's trenches and Charlie Weidenbach at linebacker, this defensive challenge for the Redwings will look familiar to Joliet Catholic and Carmel.
Advancement: The winner advances to a Class 7A quarterfinal game against the winner between No. 4 Batavia (9-1) and No. 20 Simeon (8-2).
Class 8A
No. 7 Barrington (9-1) at No. 23 Marist (6-4)
When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Previous playoff meetings: None
Outlook: Marist's record is deceiving, and Barrington and its fans need to guard against being overconfident. The Redhawks play in the East Suburban Catholic Conference, arguably one of the toughest in the state. Their 4 losses, which were all close, came to Benet, Joliet Catholic and Nazareth Academy along with nonconference foe Mt. Carmel. "We are excited to go to the south side of Chicago and take on a very good Marist team," Barrington coach Joe Sanchez said. "They are good. They are dynamic on offense and score a lot of points." Marist is led by quarterback Brendan Skalitzky, who threw for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns last week. The Redhawks are scoring 36.5 points per game. They have been held under 20 points just twice, and that includes last week's 17-14 victory over Notre Dame in the opening round of the playoffs. But the Barrington defense, which began the season with nine new players, has stepped up in recent weeks. Led by Cooper Van Kampen, Grant Elliot, Jackson Perkins, Blake Holley and Alec Andrea, the Broncos last week held Plainfield South to just 17 yards rushing while forcing 3 turnovers. "Our defense has been getting better each week," Sanchez said. "Most of that is because they practice every day against our offense." And that Barrington offense has been high-powered all season, averaging nearly 40 points per game. Quarterback Johnny Davidson has thrown for 2,024 yards and 24 touchdowns. He spread the wealth around last week, throwing TD passes toto Jake Zyzda, Logan Moews, Jack Nicoletti and Josh Babicz. The Broncos are hoping to take advantage of a Redhawks defense that has allowed 26 points per game. "We need to keep things going the way they have been on offense," Sanchez said. "We need to keep putting points on the board." Unlike many teams at this point of the season, Barrington is relatively healthy. "We are pretty fortunate that everybody is good," Sanchez said. "We should have everyone available Saturday night." With a victory, the Broncos would host the winner of Huntley and Oswego in the quarterfinals.