Tense times at 1-4

It's Week 6 and that means some football teams are fighting for their playoff lives.

West Chicago, Lake Park, Benet, Addison Trail all have their backs to the proverbial wall with records of 1-4. Entering the season it didn't seem Lake Park would be in this predicament.

The Lancers returned seven offensive starters and a great defensive core including all-conference defenders Chris Buonavolanto and Nick Wiley, plus their leading tackler from 2007, linebacker Ryan Gerts.

"I certainly didn't think we'd be here with this team," said Lancers coach Andy Livingston.

A schedule that had them play 5-0 Bartlett and 4-1 Naperville Central and St. Charles East - which nicked Lake Park 42-41 in two overtimes last week - allowed slim margin for the inevitable error or injury.

"We've gotten pretty close, it just hasn't bounced our way - or we haven't made our own breaks," Livingston said.

The good news for the Lancers is that should they beat Waubonsie Valley tonight their remaining games are against 1-4 Streamwood and East Aurora and 0-5 Elgin.

Benet, which took losses against three 4-1 teams and 5-0 Montini, doesn't have it that good. After St. Viator tonight they're rewarded with 3-2 Joliet Catholic and 4-1 Marist and St. Patrick.

Looking past the current game to that schedule could drive a coach crazy.

"That's what need to worry about, win No. 2," said Redwings coach Gary Goforth.

Then there's the 3-2 or 2-3 teams like Neuqua Valley, Wheaton Academy, Immaculate Conception, Hinsdale South, Downers North, Lisle and particularly Glenbard East - which after tonight's game against Wheaton North still has Glenbard North, Wheaton Warrenville South and Naperville Central - who've had decent enough starts but still have a couple toughies left.

Definitely on edge, if not on the brink.

"They're going to be playing like their backs are against the wall, like wounded animals," Montini coach Chris Andriano said of his opponent Friday, IC. "They've got to get a win."

Tough times: Last week the season became much tougher for Wheaton North.

Although the Falcons survived a back-and-forth matchup against West Aurora to win 38-27, they lost their two top playmakers in junior quarterback Taylor Graham and running back Mike Trumpy.

Graham is out for the season with a broken ankle that was slated to be surgically repaired on Wednesday. Trumpy's hamstring injury isn't as dire, but Falcons coach Joe Wardynski said Tuesday that his star running back was at best questionable for tonight's game against Glenbard East.

"I feel bad for Taylor, he was doing a nice job for us," Wardynski said. "But we did persevere to win the game. Now we'll need others to step up."

Junior Justin Swider steps in for Graham. The sophomore team quarterback a year ago, Swider has spent most of this season on defense. Against West Aurora he completed 5 of 7 passes for 65 yards and rushed for 35 yards.

Randy Ellison filled in for Trumpy, rushing 6 times for 13 yards. Trumpy, though, would be nearly impossible to replace if he misses a significant amount of time. The Northwestern-bound speedster has rushed for 884 yards and 9 touchdowns.

"It hurts to lose some of your better players," Wardynski said. "We'll see what we can do."

The gauntlet: Glenbard North enters the weekend with a 2-3 record, a bit surprising considering the Panthers' high preseason state ranking.

The Panthers, though, have suffered all three of their losses to unbeaten teams - Bartlett, WW South and Naperville North - by an average margin of only 5 points.

Still, Glenbard North coach Ryan Wilkens finds little solace in staying close to the area's top teams. In his mind, the Panthers need to be beating them.

"We're playing hard and we can take away something positive from each of those games," Wilkens said. "But we have to close out those games."

Running hard: Downers Grove South senior running back Scottie Williams missed much of last season because of injuries. This year he's making up for lost time.

Running behind a rebuilt offensive line that lost its best player, Chris Wild, to an ankle injury, Williams has led the Mustangs offense by rushing for 685 yards.

He'll try to keep plowing in tonight's Gold showdown against Hinsdale South in a showdown between the last of the conference unbeatens.

"What he's done is amazing," said Mustangs coach John Belskis of his three-year starter. "He has what colleges call 'it.' He can look at the field and make something out of nothing."

Surf's up, Spartans out: St. Francis' field has yet to completely recover from mid-September's flooding. The soggy status has led athletic director Paul Linden to shut down the field for the rest of the regular season both for football and for boys soccer. It's hoped the field could be playable by the playoffs.

The Spartans' Oct. 3 home game against Marmion has been moved to Elmhurst College; the location of the Oct. 10 regular-season home finale has yet to be determined.

"You have to make a positive out of a negative," said Spartans coach Greg Purnell. The positive is it puts sprinters Mark Kachmer, Ryan O'Donnell and Stan Bobowski on synthetic turf.

Quote of the week: Downers Grove North coach John Wander, on this season's simple yet effective split-back veer option: "We're trying become the best team ever to run three plays."