Playoff preview: Tri-Cities teams
No. 11 St. Charles North (6-3) at No. 6 Crystal Lake South (7-2)
Game time: 7 p.m. today.
Last week: St. Charles North 20, Neuqua Valley 0; Crystal Lake South 25, Woodstock 17
Winner will play: No. 14 Libertyville or No. 3 Rockford Boylan.
Players to watch: The North Stars will have to be wary of Crystal Lake South. sophomore quarterback Drew Ormseth and several options in the backfield, as Colin Masterson, Derek Mortensen and Kameron Scott have had a lot to do with the Gators winning 7 games during the regular season and earning the right to host tonight's contest. Ormseth, tight end Vince Benedetto and wide receivers Alec Giles and Steve Rogers will try to keep opponents from focusing solely on the Gators running game. Jordan Huxtable (146 rushes, 891 yards, 12 TDs) paces the North Stars running game but with Sean McGushin (59-of-102 passing, 845 yards, 5 INTs, 9 TDs) getting better and more confident each week, with former starting quarterback and now receiver Nick Neari (8 catches, 150 yards, 2 TDs) more involved, with Jeff Stolzenburg (20 catches, 286 yards, 2 TDs) remaining consistent and Eric Battle (15 catches, 238 yards, TD) turning into a serious speed threat, the North Stars can attack you in numerous ways. Keep an eye out for Battle on special teams too as he had a huge punt return to set up a score last week.
Outlook: While they weren't playing for their postseason lives last week, the North Stars were playing in a playoff atmosphere as they ended Neuqua Valley's season in convincing fashion. St. Charles North coach Mark Gould hopes the effort continues tonight and that the North Stars can capture their second postseason win in school history. "Kids played really well last week, especially defensively and there's been a different kind of feel in practice," Gould said. Crystal Lake South coach Jim Stuglis expects a great battle. "I think it can be one of the better first round games," Stuglis said. "They're a very big team, coming off a real big year and they play in a tough conference." The North Stars are gearing up for a versatile attack from the Gators. "They are a good fundamentally-sound team," Gould said. "Their sophomore quarterback has really grown through the year and throws the ball well and they have a nice running attack." After picking off 4 passes last week, maybe the North Stars will have the hosts a bit wary of throwing the ball tonight. The Gators are concerned with the North Stars running game themselves, especially in containing Huxtable. "We're hoping to contain the running back and force them to throw it," Stuglis said. "I think that will help us a little bit, so hopefully we can contain the run, force the pass and make things a bit more predictable which makes things easier for the style of defense we're playing." While the North Stars running game hasn't been overly impressive the past two weeks, they have had some success with it this season and their aerial attack has gotten considerably better as McGushin has reached a comfort level after several starts. "I think the passing game is something that continues to evolve and Sean has gotten a lot more confidence," Gould said. "And with Nick (Neari) it's nice because he sees a lot of things, and is like having another coach out there, which can really help the offense."
Bottom line: The last three years the North Stars have had to regroup for round one of the playoffs after losing the regular season finale. They don't have to do that tonight and have a great deal of momentum from last week. Can Jake Juriga and the defense come up huge again tonight?
No. 12 Batavia (6-3)
at No. 5 Huntley (8-1)
Game time: 7 p.m. today.
Last week: Geneva 47, Batavia 14; Johnsburg 17, Huntley 7.
Winner will play: No. 4 Vernon Hills or No. 13 Grant.
Players to watch: Illinois State recruit Jordan Neukirch, a Fox Valley Daily Herald All-Area selection a year ago, leads the Huntley offensive attack with 1,359 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. When he's not getting the ball, it's more often than not going into the hands of David Conrad (6 TDs), Brett Kleckner (5 TDs) or Tanner Stearns (3 TDs). The big three on offense for the Bulldogs are quarterback Jordan Coffey, running back J.R. Kabba and wide receiver Erich Zeddies. Coffey's 2 early interceptions last Friday didn't help the Batavia cause but he bounced back for a pretty strong night in rainy conditions. He's completed 140-of-243 passes for 2,021 yards and 19 touchdowns. Arguably the area's best receiver, Zeddies is closing in on 50 catches and 900 yards (48 receptions, 849 yards, 12 TDs) while Kabba would love to surpass 1,000 rushing yards on the season tonight (82 rushes, 828 yards, 10 TDs).
Outlook: It's a good thing that a new season begins this evening as both teams want to forget about last weekend. "It's a great matchup and our kids are really looking forward to playing again," Batavia coach Mike Gaspari said. "It would've been very difficult to end the season with how we played last week." Comparable to Rochelle, who the Bulldogs beat 34-28 in Week 4, the Red Raiders (396 carries, 2,879 yards) really like to run the ball and control the time of possession. Opponents don't like it though as Huntley averages 44 carries per game, 7.27 yards per carry and 320 total rushing yards per game. "They're huge upfront, have three very good running backs and run the double wing," Gaspari said. "Their goal is to control the clock and take time off of it." The Bulldogs can survive giving up some points as long as their offense answers. Last week, they headed to Geneva in the midst of a five-game winning streak in which they averaged nearly 42 points but only found the end zone once before the game got out of hand. "We know we have to score points; that's how the team is built and we didn't do that early enough against Geneva," Gaspari said. "We feel we've played three teams better than Huntley, (St. Charles) East, Geneva and Glenbard South. But, having said that, we lost to all three of them so we have to play better." With both teams coming off emotional losses, getting off to a good start is even more imperative for the Bulldogs. "When you get set back a bit emotionally like we did it's so fortunate to have a 10th week to play," Gaspari said. "I think this is a good draw and we've had some success against teams from that league which bodes well for us. We're very capable of putting together a run here and playing a long time." Historically, Halloween hasn't been a treat for the Bulldogs. They suffered first round playoff losses in 2003 (Morgan Park) and 1997 (Morris) but did win a big regular season game on Halloween 1986, over Geneva, Gaspari's first victory against the Vikings. Now they'll try to erase the memory of the Vikings from last week and end the Red Raiders' season.
Bottom line: The Bulldogs need Kabba and Coffey to put up big numbers and to avoid turning the ball over at inopportune times if they hope to avoid being the team that ends its season on a two-game slide.
• Editor's note: Previews for all of the area playoff teams playing Saturday games will appear in Saturday's paper.