Football: Lake County previews, Week 5
EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC
St. Joseph (0-4, 0-2) at Carmel (3-1, 2-0)
When: 7:30 p.m. today
Last week: St. Joseph lost to St. Patrick 35-7; Carmel d. Notre Dame 43-13
Outlook: Carmel has won three straight games thanks in large part to the play of veteran quarterback David Venegoni and its defense. Venegoni rushed for 147 yards and 3 touchdowns against Notre Dame, while also completing 4 of 5 passes for 53 yards and a score. For the season, he's rushed for a team-best 332 yards (5.3 average) and passed for 242. The defense has yet to pitch a shutout, but has been dominant at times. Carmel's strength might be its safeties -- Ryan Williams (team-best 45 tackles), Chris Salvi (3 interceptions) and Jake Sinkovec. The defense also features Daniel Michael, Mike Hiestand, Charlie Wifler, Mike Zegar, James Zizzo, Steven Lester, Aaron Kwasigroch (3 interceptions), Tim Cook and Tim Coffey. Carmel coach Andy Bitto said Tuesday that wide receiver Tommy Magna (broken collarbone) is expected to make his season debut. Carmel and St. Joseph played in a downpour in Westchester last season. Carmel won 63-0, scoring all of its points in the first half. St. Joseph has been outscored this season 166-26.
Marian Catholic (2-2, 0-2) at St. Viator (3-1, 1-1)
When: 7:30 p.m. today at Forest View Educational Center
Last week: Marian lost to Nazareth 27-7; St. Viator lost to Benet 25-23
Outlook: The Lions get a chance to show they learned a harsh lesson as they had 91 yards in penalties and played what coach Chris Kirkpatrick called "uncharacteristic football" in Benet's first win of the season. "It's like my mama used to say, we got too big for our own britches," Kirkpatrick said. "We got put in our place and we're just trying to get better. The bottom line is I didn't have the kids ready to play. That falls on me and I'll take responsibility for it." Mike Landuyt and QB Eric Huber combined to rush for 314 yards with Huber scoring 3 TDs last week. The big challenge for the Lions' defense will be RB Malcolm Allen (560 yards, 5 TDs), who had his second 179-yard game last week. Marian, which handed Viator its only ESCC loss last year 36-34 and leads the series 11-2, also lost 28-7 to Carmel two weeks ago. "I hate to play somebody when their back is against the wall -- they fight, scratch and claw," Kirkpatrick said. "We have to play with the same mentality. We've got to play better to have an opportunity to win. If we play like we did last week it'll be a blowout."
NORTH SUBURBAN PRAIRIE
Grant (4-0, 2-0) at Wauconda (4-0, 2-0)
When: 7:30 p.m., today
Last week: Grant def. Lakes, 29-0; Wauconda def. Antioch, 41-20.
Outlook: This is the big one, folks -- which is kind of strange to say about a North Suburban Prairie Division game. Since the North Suburban Conference broke into two divisions in 2000, there has never been a Prairie Division game pitting two 4-0 teams. "This is just great for this division," Grant coach Kurt Rous said. "I think a lot of times the Prairie Division schools are kind of looked at like the little brothers. Maybe this game and that fact that we've got two 4-0 teams will help give this side of the conference a little respect."...Rous says his team has nothing but the utmost respect for Wauconda running back Brad Wisniewski, who has been racking up yardage like crazy for the last couple of years. He rolled up 240 yards against Antioch last week. "He looks better than last year," Rous said of Wisniewski. "And I thought he looked pretty good last year. We're just going to have to try to limit his opportunities. We need to try to get out (to a lead) early, which is what we did last year. They fell behind and they couldn't go to him as much because they had to throw more than normal."...Wauconda quarterback Garrett Dorsey isn't afraid to throw the ball and neither is Grant quarterback Pavel Zurkowski -- which is an interesting dynamic for these two heavily run-oriented teams. This year, both teams are better balanced and that makes their run games all the more potent...One of Grant's top threats is wideout Tommy Bychowski. "That kid out-jumps people and is really aggressive," Wauconda coach Glen Kozlowski said of Bychowski. "He can make big plays and we can't afford to give up big plays."...An X-Factor for Grant could be kicker Kevin Katchmar, who has recovered 3 of his 4 on-side kicks this season...The last time Grant went 5-0 was in 1986. That year, the Bulldogs went 9-0. Wauconda has never been 5-0.
FOX VALLEY
Huntley (1-3, 0-0) at Grayslake North (0-4, 0-0)
When: 7:45 p.m., today
Last week: Huntley lost to Cary-Grove, 37-7; Grayslake North lost to Crystal Lake South, 46-0.
Outlook: After last week's definitive shutout, Grayslake North could use a win. Beside that, the Knights are still looking for their first win in school history. Perhaps this game will be the cure-all. Huntley and Grayslake North have a lot in common. Both teams enter this game struggling. Grayslake North mustered just 6 first downs, 9 yards rushing and 82 yards for the game last week against Crystal Lake South, which was ranked No. 3 in Class 7A. The Knights will likely try to get running back Xeryus Ivory more touches this week. Quarterback Nick Harrington could see more action as well. He completed 5-of-6 passes last week. The Knights need to offer him better protection, though. He was sacked three times...Huntley managed just one touchdown against Cary-Grove last week -- a 2-yard run by Austin Drougas. Poor execution early on hurt the Red Raiders' chances of staying in the game. "We needed to come out and execute perfectly and we did not do that," Huntley coach Steve Graves said. "We really can't go down much from here. We have a lot to improve on and it definitely showed (against Cary-Grove)."
Johnsburg (1-3, 0-0) at Grayslake Central (0-4, 0-0)
When: 7:45 p.m., today
Last week: Johnsburg lost to McHenry, 35-14; Grayslake Central lost to Jacobs, 35-0.
Outlook: Grayslake Central is still looking to get its first win for new coach Nick Goshe. The Rams haven't really gotten all that close yet. They're losing by an average of 28.8 points per game. And last week, they mustered only 4 first downs. But Johnsburg might prove to be just the right medicine. The Skyhawks are struggling as well. They are coming off a 21-point loss to McHenry and have only one more win than the Rams...Grayslake Central needs to avoid starting slow. The Rams were down 28-0 by halftime last week. A bright spot for Grayslake Central was the play of running back Rich Smith. He rolled up 125 yards on 20 carries against Jacobs. Meanwhile, quarterback Greg Bey will look to rebound from last week's 3-of-17 passing effort. Look for Goshe to try rotating in Kevin O'Rourke at quarterback occasionally to give the versatile Bey a chance to show what he can do at receiver...One of Johnsburg's biggest weapons is 6-foot-7 basketball star CJ Fiedorowicz, who plays wide receiver. He hooked up with quarterback Jerad Grundy often in Johnsburg's shocking Week 3 victory over Jacobs. He caught 10 passes, including 2 touchdowns.
NORTH SUBURBAN CROSSOVER
Anticoh (2-2, 0-2) at Lake Forest (4-0, 2-0)
When: 1 p.m., Saturday
Last week: Antioch lost to Wauconda, 41-20; Lake Forest def. Mundelein, 34-7).
Outlook: Antioch coach Brian Glashagel was in the stands scouting Lake Forest's victory over visiting Mundelein last week. "What a beautiful facility," Glashagel said of Lake Forest's brand new football stadium, which was built from the ground up and includes all new bleachers, a new press box and a new, brightly colored artificial playing surface. "They really did a great job with the whole thing." Glashagel was equally impressed with the Scouts themselves. Lake Forest is on a roll, thanks to a stingy defense and a well-balanced offense that is particularly potent through the air...The Scouts use a rotation at quarterback between senior James Borrasso and sophomore Thomas Rees. One of their top targets is 6-foot-6 wideout Kevin Finney, who caught 5 passes for 90 yards against Mundelein. Borrasso threw for 139 yards and 4 touchdowns. "Their quarterbacks are very good," Glashagel said. "And their pistol, shotgun kind of offense is not what we're used to seeing."...Antioch's offense will look a little different, too. Matt Romani went down in the first half against Wauconda with a high ankle sprain. He is doubtful for this game, which means that backup Kenny Karagiorgas will be back under center. He scored a touchdown for the Sequoits last week. "Kenny is a different kind of quarterback than Matt," Glashagel said. "Matt is our option guy. With him out, it kind of takes us out of our option game, which is our bread and butter. We'll have to see how we handle that."
WEST SUBURBAN GOLD
Willowbrook (3-1, 1-1) at Leyden (3-1, 2-0)
When: 7:30 p.m. today at West Campus, Northlake
Last week: Willowbrook lost to Downers Grove South 49-14; Leyden d. Morton 27-14
Outlook: Leyden has already surpassed its overall and WSC Gold win totals from each of the last two seasons. Now the Eagles get a Willowbrook team that made a brief appearance in the 7A state rankings before losing to division favorite Downers South. "I don't think we played as well as we could have against Morton," Leyden coach Tom Cerasani said of a game his team led 27-0 into the final minutes. "Obviously it was good enough to get the job done, but we'll have to play a lot better to beat Willowbrook." But it would be tough to get much more out of senior two-way standout Josh Serrano, who rushed for 201 yards last week and has 621 and 8 TDs for the season, and has 23 tackles and 2 sacks. "Game by game he's getting better at defense, too," Cerasani said. "Now he's just getting into game shape and he's able to play really well on both sides of the ball. He doesn't take a play off." Cerasani hopes his passing game with QB Tim O'Connell and WR Sam Cochiaro can get turned on to keep the Warriors from loading up against Serrano and Angel Maldonado. "They play a lot of man coverage," Cerasani said. "If they do that all game we've got to make them pay for it." Willowbrook hopes to have standout WR Milton Colbert and two-way lineman Alberto Estrada back after they were banged up last week.