Fenton ready for R-B's quirky offense

It's been praised, bashed, mocked and generally dissected.

Now Fenton gets a firsthand look at Riverside-Brookfield's wild and woolly A-11 offense.

"The've got a real nice quarterback, so we need to get one or two guys on him real quick," said Bison coach Mark Farrell, whose team plays tonight at R-B.

The A-11 offense, devised by a pair of California coaches, is the latest pass-happy scheme from longtime R-B coach Otto Zeman. Quarterback Billy VandeMerkt runs the show, although two quarterbacks are typically lined up 7 yards behind center.

All 11 players (A-11) are potentially eligible receivers, with only three linemen blocking - two tight ends and a center. The key to success is confusing the defense as to who the eligible receivers are on a given play.

The winless Bulldogs' certainly haven't perfected the scheme, and Fenton wants to keep it that way in tonight's Metro Suburban Conference opener.

"We want to deal with that offense as little as possible," Farrell said. "We want to control the football and limit their touches."

The biggie: Lake Park could apply for the title of one of the top 1-2 teams around. The Lancers shot themselves in the foot in a 15-13 opening loss to Conant and suffered a late lapse in a 28-20 loss to a good Naperville Central team.

Then came Lake Park's 20-6 win over Neuqua Valley last week to back up coach Andy Livingston's belief in his squad.

"If we'd gone 0-3, it'd be hard to talk to the kids and tell them, 'You're good.'

Friday's opponent, Bartlett, is good. The Hawks offer a two-year starting quarterback in Josh Hassenberg, a three-year starting linebacker with multiple MAC offers in Kyle Zelinsky, and returning starters at two receiver positions plus tight end.

Lake Park and Bartlett have engaged in highly physical contests.

"They're very physical on defense, and always have been," Livingston said.

Despite the presence of back Fabian Libreri, this Hawks team under Hassenberg is a more pass-oriented unit, moving from one-back to double-tight, 2-back sets.

Against Neuqua's spread offense, Lake Park lineman Ben Coleman knocked down 3 passes, and linebackers Justin Kang and Ryan Gerts each batted down a pair. Those three combined for 18 tackles, four for loss, plus Kang's fumble recovery.

Unless St. Charles North or Neuqua can handle Bartlett in Weeks 5 and 7, respectively, Lake Park is the best bet to delay Bartlett's first UEC title since 2003.

A solid start is the key, Livingston said.

"Against Naperville we kind of believe we were OK," he said, and having a lead slip through our fingers like the Bears, they understood we weren't just blowing smoke and they could hang with people.

"The questions was, can they bring it right from the beginning?"

One for all: St. Francis' 27-7 victory over Driscoll, its first over the Highlanders since the 2000 season, obviously was great for the football program in its second year under coach Greg Purnell.

Afterward, in the hall outside the Spartans locker room, Purnell hinted that the victory meant more than just a simple win.

"I'm just really happy for our kids, I'm happy for our community," said Purnell, who has a direct interest and responsibility to both, being St. Francis' director of development.

"You could tell by the energy out there with our fans and our student body that this was a special win from St. Francis."

Purnell stresses the role numbers play in success. He's thrilled that his varsity roster of 38 will graduate only 12 seniors. St. Francis has 33 sophomores and a solid number of 42 freshmen.

Leading to something: Wheaton Academy beat Luther South 28-0 last week and looks forward to a positive outing Saturday against Luther North.

Though some programs might see empty victories over teams that have the potential to be a combined 1-7 after this weekend, a program in just its second season of varsity play does not.

Wheaton Academy coach Ben Wilson said it's all a matter of creating confidence.

"At this point in the program, it does (help) because we still have a lot of things we're working on - blocking, tackling, a lot of fundamentals. We need to do it against a team that we have some confidence going onto the field," Wilson said.

The Warriors have traditional Private School League power Walther Lutheran up in Week 5, a team they'll need all confidence to stand up against.

Especially if with their record of 1-2 they have any hope of reaching the playoffs while still having Chicago Christian and Aurora Christian on tap in Weeks 7 and 9, respectively.

Against Genoa-Kingston and Momence in Weeks 1-2, Wilson didn't feel his team had that confidence. He's hoping Weeks 3-4 shore it up.

"They were talented enough to win, but they just didn't believe it," Wilson said of the early games.

"We want them to have the confidence they can win every game when they go out there on the field. They're not there yet."