Football: Tri Cities Week 8 previews

Western Sun

Geneva (7-0, 5-0) at Kaneland (3-4, 2-3) Game time: 7:30 p.m. today.

Last year: Geneva 24, Kaneland 21

Last week: Geneva 24, Rochelle 15; Kaneland 35, DeKalb 7

Players to watch: How about the Geneva defensive unit? If not for a turnover on their own 1-yard line last week, they probably would have held Rochelle to just the touchdown it scored on its first possession. Tough guys in the secondary, including Sean Grady and Jake Conforti (team-best 3 interceptions) will be plenty busy against Kaneland's spread offense but look for the rest of unit to cause chaos. Linemen Frank Boenzi and Cory Hofstetter and linebackers Jordan Boser, Trevor Hyslop and Brennan Quinn (team-best 77 tackles), along with the rest of the defensive-minded Vikings will look to continue to make coach Rob Wicinski proud with their stellar play. Offensively, Michael Ratay leads the team with 15 touchdowns; 13 coming via the rush. He was huge in the win against Rochelle, collecting 147 yards on 23 carries and creating opportunities for Drew Fagot and Grady to rush for touchdowns. The scary thing is that Ratay's ankle, while close to being 100 percent, isn't totally healed yet so the Vikings offense might continue to get progressively better each week as he heals. Mike Mayszak's goal of not throwing any interceptions was spoiled on the opening possession on Friday. He only went 3-for-12 for 65 yards and did throw a second interception but he also connected with Joe Augustine for a 38-yard touchdown. In fact, all 3 of his completions went to Augustine who leads the team in catches (28), receiving yards (529) and touchdown receptions (6). Several sophomores have received considerable playing time this season for the Knights, including some who are working in the trenches. Ryley Bailey and Blake Kendrick have shown they can play at this level, and do so on both sides of the ball. Kendrick, who had possibly the game-saving interception against Batavia in Week 5, had a 99-yard interception return last week. Bailey had a pair of touchdown receptions in the win over DeKalb. Korey Maple, who had 25 catches and 272 yards in Week 5 and 6 once back from an injury, hurt his shoulder last week but is expected to play tonight and the Knights definitely need him on the field. Knights quarterback Jody Henningson will need to avoid throwing interceptions. He's been picked off 16 times and thrown 14 touchdown passes. He's averaging just under 300 yards passing per game, has over 2,000 passing yards on the season and has become as dangerous running the ball as he has passing it with 5 rushing touchdowns and over 700 yards rushing. He'll likely exceed 3,000 yards of total offense on the season tonight but will it be enough to upset the Vikings?

Outlook: A win by Geneva and the Vikings have a Western Sun Conference championship all to itself. A win by Kaneland and they will end Geneva's perfect record and keeps its playoff hopes alive. The Knights are aiming to qualify for the postseason for the 13th consecutive year. "It's exciting," Hyslop said. "I guess we're just looking to win conference outright, then beat Batavia and then go deep into the playoffs. But Kaneland can be scary good and we've had a bad history going there so we're just focused on them right now." The Vikings showed they could stop the Wing T, now they change their focus to the Knights' spread attack. "We've got to stop the quarterback who is a dual threat, fast and can throw," Hyslop said. "They've got good receivers and we need to slow them down a bit. They can put the points up quickly so we need to slow them down and let our offense do its thing." Offensively the Vikings had some breakdowns last week and some turnovers they need to avoid tonight. "Right now we're dealing with ourselves," Wicinski said. "We're focused on protecting the ball, how the offense works and making plays." Wicinski knows the Knights will put forth quite an effort too. "Their program has a lot of pride and we expect an absolute Herculean effort," he said. "They're extremely dangerous with that quarterback who might be the best in conference. Containing him is a chore and we're concerned."

Bottom line: Geneva has found a way to win every week and the team heads to Maple Park with a lot of confidence that it'll be playing for its first undefeated regular season since 1985 next Friday at Batavia. Kaneland has no choice; they have to win to keep their postseason dreams alive.

DeKalb (3-4, 2-3) at Batavia (4-3, 3-2)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today.

Last year: Batavia 48, DeKalb 0

Last week: Kaneland 35, DeKalb 7; Batavia 48, Sycamore 27

Players to watch: Remember when the season first started and people were scratching their heads about Batavia's lack of offense? Seems like quite sometime ago doesn't it? It has been awhile since the Bulldogs struggled putting points on the scoreboard. That's thanks in part to the work of the offensive line and the development of J.R. Kabba and Jordan Coffey. Kabba was awesome against a good Sycamore defense which shut down Rochelle's potent rushing attack in Week 6. He rushed for 157 yards on 14 carries against the Barbs. Coffey was equally as impressive, rushing for a touchdown, throwing a pair of touchdown passes and completing 17 of 25 passes for 253 yards. In the past three games, Kabba has 47 rushes for 437 yards and Coffey has tossed 8 touchdown passes. In the first three weeks of the season Coffey had no touchdown passes and Kabba had yet to rush for a touchdown. Last week's top receivers for the Bulldogs were Erich Zeddies (5 receptions, 112 yards) and Ryan Webb (5, 61) but other weapons include Ian Wallis and tight end Jordan Church. DeKalb has had little to be excited about with its offensive production of late, but Mandel Williams continues to be a special player who could give Batavia some problems. He rushed for 120 yards in the loss to Kaneland last Friday.

Outlook: The Bulldogs offense has looked great in recent weeks and they should be able to handle the under-manned Barbs early and often. Last week the Bulldogs collected 630 total yards of offense against a Sycamore team which shut down the high-powered Rochelle running attack. What started slowly when the season began has matured really quickly. "I think people forget that our skilled guys are juniors for the most part," Batavia coach Mike Gaspari said. "There are some seniors contributing, but the top point scorers are juniors. We had 630 total yards of offense (last week) against a good football team so I'd say it's coming around." It certainly has and the Bulldogs will look to extinguish the Barbs quickly so then can set their sights on their regular-season finale against Geneva. DeKalb lacks depth with only 35 players listed on their roster in comparison to Batavia's 83. "They've got some injuries and the biggest thing is depth," Gaspari said. "We don't know the status of the injuries so we're preparing as if we're playing a playoff-like opponent and they're not mathematically out and haven't been in this position in awhile so I expect them to come in and play hard. And, it seems like we're getting everyone's best game so far." The Bulldogs' best still might be yet to come as they are definitely turning into a team no one is going to want to face in the playoffs. "We're still relatively young on the offensive line with three young guys there and it's still a learning process but one the kids are putting together," Gaspari said. "We're just moving forward and excited because we still feel there's room for improvement."

Bottom line: It's not how you start, it's how you finish. Batavia is playing extremely well right now and should take care of business tonight and then aim for its fourth straight victory when it hosts Geneva.

Glenbard South (5-2, 3-2) at Rochelle (5-2, 3-2)

Game time: 7:30 p.m., today.

Last year: Rochelle 30, Glenbard South 7.

Last week: Glenbard South 38, Yorkville 6; Geneva 24, Rochelle 15.

Outlook: Although Glenbard South's passing game looks strong with quarterback Kevin Marshall and receivers Chris Loos and Jon Holland, a main goal tonight is to maintain ball control and keep Rochelle's offense off the field. In a close game kicker Scott Langel, who booted a field goal, five extra points and three touchbacks last week, could be a difference-maker. Rochelle began the season with five straight wins but stumbled in close losses to Sycamore and Geneva. Containing the Hubs' smashmouth running game, something Geneva managed at times last week, is the top priority for the Raiders tonight.

DuPage Valley

West Chicago (2-5, 1-4) at West Aurora (3-4, 1-4)

Game time: 7:30 p.m., today.

Last year: West Chicago 19, West Aurora 17.

Last week: Naperville Central 34, West Chicago 21; Naperville North 37, West Aurora 0.

Players to watch: West Aurora must win to stay playoff eligible. The Blackhawks emerged relatively unscathed from their two-week march through the unbeaten tandem of Wheaton Warrenville South and Naperville North. A win tonight would give the program its most DVC wins since 2004.

Outlook: West Chicago piled up its second-highest yardage total of the season last week with 372. Even though 260 came in the air, the Wildcats remain committed to the run with Mason Brandstedter. The Chris Wille-to-Trevor Bodie passing combination led to 9 catches for 160 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Next week: If the Blackhawks can win tonight, they will travel to Glenbard North next week with a chance to win their fifth game and stay in the hunt for a playoff berth.

Private School

Aurora Christian (7-0, 4-0) at Luther North (1-6, 1-3) Game time: 7:30 p.m. today at East Aurora.

Last week: Aurora Christian 30, Walther Lutheran 15; Lake Forest Academy 27, Luther North 24.

Last year: Aurora Christian 63, Luther North 0.

Players to watch: Aurora Christian's offense gets a lot of attention -- and deservedly so -- but the Eagles' defense has been up to the challenge in every big game this year. That included last week's first win over Walther Lutheran. Among the stalwarts: Michael Friend (7 tackles, 4 solo, 1 fumble recovery), Luis Solario (11 tackles), Dan Owen (6 tackles, 3 solo, 1 sack) and Peter Kariotis (1.5 sacks, 7 tackles). They also made two goal-line stands. "These kids have been extremely resilient near the goal line this year," Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe said. "They stripped the ball against IC. They held them on a goal-line stand at Chicago Christian."

Outlook: After convincing wins over the two best teams in the Private School League, the Eagles close their season with two teams they should have no trouble with, first Luther North and then Wheaton Academy -- a combined 3-11. Aurora Christian scored 81 points against Luther North two years ago.

Bottom line: The Eagles climbed up to No. 7 in the Class 3A poll with their latest win. Beebe and his coaches have scouted potential playoff opponents the past couple weeks, and the Eagles should get to those playoffs at 9-0 and a chance to host the first and possibly second round.

Wheaton Academy (2-5, 1-4) at Lake Forest Academy (2-4, 2-3)

Game time: 2 p.m., Saturday.

Last year: Wheaton Academy 44, Lake Forest Academy 22 (junior varsity).

Last week: Chicago Christian 56, Wheaton Academy 6; Lake Forest Academy 27, Luther North 24.

Outlook: "Almost a carbon copy of our team," Wheaton Academy coach Ben Wilson said of IHSA associate member Lake Forest Academy. The Caxys have about the same size and speed, they blitz and run the spread offense. The Warriors hope to clean it up after a rash of turnovers allowed Chicago Christian to post a 30-0 first-quarter lead in Wheaton Academy's first homecoming game since 1989. Wilson looks to pound the ball on the ground with tailback Chris Reddick behind tackle Connor Reilly and an improving offensive line.

Next week: Wheaton Academy at Aurora Christian; Lake Forest Academy at Rockford Christian Life.

Suburban Catholic Conference

Aurora Central (1-6, 1-4) at Marmion (4-3, 2-3) Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday.

Last week: Driscoll 62, Aurora Central 35; Marmion 33, Immaculate Conception 7

Last year: Marmion 34, Aurora Central 18.

Players to watch: The Chargers put up some big offensive numbers -- as they have all year -- in defeat last week against Driscoll. Mark Adams caught 8 passes for 146 yards and 3 touchdowns. His brother Mike threw for 208 yards and ran for 134 and 2 scores. Marmion's defense has been coming around, giving up 12 points the past two weeks with 2 of those coming on a safety the offense took.

Outlook: Marmion forced six turnovers in its win last week while Mike Adams threw four interceptions. The Cadets will try to create some more miscues. Marmion's Joe Weber returned an interception 22 yards for a score against IC. Coach Dan Thorpe was pleased with his team's execution.

Bottom line: There's a lot on the line for Marmion -- trying to get wins the next two weeks and secure a playoff berth with 6 wins -- but also a proud Aurora Central team that has fought hard all year while being undermanned.

Immaculate Conc. (2-5, 1-4) at St. Francis (2-5, 1-4)

Game time: 1 p.m., Saturday.

Last year: St. Francis 42, IC 6.

Last week: Marmion 33, IC 7; St. Edward 28, St. Francis 26 (OT).

Outlook: Both these teams' playoff hopes ended last week, but not their pride. Immaculate Conception, led by linebackers Antonio Taylor and Chris Mulligan, running back Jon Ellis and receiver Jack Dempsey, will try to establish its ground game and get the early lead as the passing game remains in development. St. Francis, unfortunate recipient of St. Edward's first win in 27 games, looks simply to get better, coach Greg Purnell said. Injuries have impacted the Spartans offensive line but wingbacks Stan Bobowski and Mark Kachmer still pack inside-out punch. The combo of quarterback Jeff Reckards and receiver Bob Vonderhaar could be a difference.