De La Salle's weapons to test Cary-Grove
De La Salle running back Cordero Gaston commands attention.
In 10 games this season, the 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior running back has rushed for 1,723 yards and 21 touchdowns on 226 carries, an average of 7.6 yards per attempt.
He'll have the attention of 11 young men clad in blue-and-white uniforms Saturday at 6:30 p.m. as No. 3 Cary-Grove (9-1) attempts to slow down Gaston, star receiver Elliot Brown and No. 6 De La Salle (8-2) in a Class 7A second-round playoff game at Al Bohrer Field in Cary.
"We have to do that," Cary-Grove coach Bruce Kay said of putting the clamps on Gaston. "Their passing game doesn't seem to be a strength for them. It's something they can do, but it doesn't seem to be a strength. Their strengths are (Gaston and Brown). They get those guys the ball and they make plays like very few kids can."
Defenses sometimes key on Gaston to a fault. In last week's playoff opener he took a pitch and ran toward the sideline, chased by 11 McHenry defenders. But Gaston turned on a muddy field and threw back to a wide-open Brown (6-0, 185), who traipsed 39 yards untouched for a touchdown.
De La Salle's final touchdown in its 36-0 win over McHenry was an 8-yard run by quarterback Tom Lally, who also scored untouched after faking a pitch to Gaston. McHenry had to honor the pitch; Gaston had already run for 129 yards and 2 scores.
"When he has the ball he makes something happen, and when he doesn't everyone's still looking at him," said second-year Meteors coach Dan O'Keefe, who has guided De La Salle to its first playoff victory since 1999 and its first outright conference title since 1968.
It's a classic postseason matchup between the strengths of the respective teams.
On one side there's the prolific running game of De La Salle, champions of the reorganized Chicago Catholic League's White Division, a team that averages 31.6 points per game.
It is an attack that benefits from an offensive line populated by seniors. "Outside of Cordero, they are our MVP's," O'Keefe said.
On the other side of the line of scrimmage is a Cary-Grove defense that has improved as the season has progressed. The Trojans have shut out three of their last four opponents and the first-team defense has allowed but 1 touchdown in the last 20 quarters.
Led by senior inside linebacker Paul Rands, the Cary-Grove defense has surrendered an average of 7.4 points per game this season, not far off the pace of last year's defense that allowed 4.6 ppg.
But in its last four games -- the Trojans' biggest games of the season, all against playoff teams -- that average dipped to a remarkable 1.75 points allowed per game.
"Their defensive strength is stopping the run and our offensive strength is running the ball, so it'll definitely be a challenge," O'Keefe said.
Offensively, the Trojans will attack a defense led by middle linebacker Erik Krol (6-2, 225) and defensive back David Bradford, who accounted for 2 of De La Salle's 5 second-half interceptions last week.
In a best-case scenario the Cary-Grove offense, led by senior quarterback A.J. Hoger (690 yards rushing, 561 passing) and sophomore fullback Eric Chandler (879 yards, 7 touchdowns), will grind out time-consuming scoring drives that keep Gaston and Brown off the field. It's a formula that has been working lately: Cary-Grove's offense has been on the field for 267 more plays than its defense this season, a statistic that was relatively close earlier in the year.
"When you look at the striking power of their offense, we need to continue to control the ball like we have in recent weeks," Kay said. "Hopefully, they have not seen any option teams the way we run it. Hopefully, the way we run the option will keep their size, speed and strength off balance."