Huskies settling in to home away from home

For a second straight week Benedictine University in Lisle will serve as Naperville North's postseason home away from home.

Extensive renovation of Harshbarger-Welzel Field began on Oct. 27, forcing the Huskies' football team to find alternate sites for their home games the rest of the season. For now that means Benedictine.

"It's not ideal, but we're making the best of it," said Huskies coach Larry McKeon.

Among the changes coming to Harshbarger-Welzel Field will be the addition of a grand entrance and a shift in traffic flow near the stadium. Most important, though, will be the installation of an artificial surface to the playing field.

The school hopes to have all the improvements in place by graduation day on May 20.

The new digs at Benedictine didn't adversely affect the second-seeded Huskies (10-0) last week as they rolled to a 42-16 first-round Class 8A win over Simeon. Friday night they'll play host to a much tougher opponent in No. 7 Marist (8-2).

One of the biggest playoff challenges, though, is simply getting accustomed to a new routine. Like in the regular season when the Huskies played Naperville Central at North Central College, the team rides the bus to Benedictine on game day.

Scheduling conflicts also stepped in to add to a mixed-up routine. While last week's first-round game was played at 5 p.m. Saturday, this week's second-rounder will be at 8 p.m. Friday.

But for a team aiming to win a second straight Class 8A state title, the distractions are minimal.

"Last week was a little different, but I'm sure it'll be better this week," McKeon said. "No matter where we play we just need to be focused on playing the game."

Scout teams: For various reasons, scouting future opponents becomes more difficult as the playoffs roll along.

Glenbard South (8-2), which plays Hubbard (9-1) in a second-round Class 6A game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Chicago's Gately Stadium, takes the field at the same time Highland Park plays at Antioch.

The winner of those two games meet in next week's 6A quarterfinals, which creates less-than-ideal scouting circumstances for all the teams.

On the bright side, before their game the Raiders will get a firsthand look at two potential semifinal opponents. Lemont and Morgan Park play their 6A second-rounder at 3 p.m. Saturday at Gately Stadium.

While future prospects are exciting to think about, though, the Raiders remain fixated on the present and getting past Saturday's game against Hubbard.

"We're definitely not looking that far ahead," said Raiders coach Dan Starkey. "We're going to have our hands full this week."

Airtime: Montini backup quarterback Brandon Pechloff made one of "Edgy" Tim O'Halloran's message boards on the Rivals.com site on Monday, his name cropping up in a conversation on top quarterbacks from the Class of 2010.

The junior, who hasn't started a game this season and has thrown just 29 passes, isn't a household name, but Broncos coach Chris Andriano said Pechloff has attracted college interest.

A 6-foot-6 pocket passer who sees the field well, Pechloff has been invited to games at Ohio State and Illinois and has received recruiting material from Alabama, Kansas State and Arizona, Andriano said.

He has looked solid in his appearances in support of Montini starting quarterback Tom DiCristina. Pechloff has completed 17 passes in 29 attempts for 239 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.

All 3 of Pechloff's touchdowns came last week in the Broncos' 47-0 romp over Clark in the Class 5A playoff opener.

"He's just got to keep getting better strength and athleticism," Andriano said. "But he's doing it, he's working. It hasn't been easy for him behind Tommy all year long. It was nice to get him in the game."

Downers North's secret weapon: Downers Grove North junior Joe Claver earned the title "secret weapon" last week from Trojans coach John Wander.

A junior, Claver is the Trojans' top big-play receiver, though in Downers North's run-heavy offense that's somewhat of a moot point with only 6 catches for 131 yards and the team's sole receiving touchdown.

Regardless, he's athletic on the perimeter, as well as a defensive back who's made an interception and has broken up 5 passes while ranking seventh on the team with 38 tackles. Claver also stood in at quarterback for Dan Sheppard when the latter had back spasms.

But it's Claver's punting that earned Wander's call as the Trojans' secret weapon. In Downers North's 8-7 win over Wheaton Warrenville South, he blasted 2 punts totaling 96 yards, and after Sheppard scored the go-ahead 2-point conversion the Trojans recovered Claver's pooch kickoff and ran out the last 1:39.

Against Glenbard West, Claver punted 7 times for 336 yards, an average of 48 yards a punt, with a long of 63 yards. On the season the 6-foot-2, 170-pounder has punted 38 times for 1,521 yards, averaging 40 yards a punt.