Scouting: Bureau Valley vs. Immaculate Conception

Class 2A

No. 3 Bureau Valley (10-1) vs. No. 15 Immaculate Conception (7-4)

Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday, Wheaton College.

The quick hit: As IC coach Bill Schmidt said after the Knights' convincing 43-22 win over Class 2A No. 7 seed Lena-Winslow, the competition leaps dramatically in the quarterfinals. This is probably the case with playoff perennial Bureau Valley. The Manlius-based Storm, which lost the 2004 Class 3A title game to Driscoll 37-14, won 3A in 2005 under former head coach Dave Moore and then-assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Jeff Ohlson, now in his first year at the head spot. Last year's squad lost in the semifinals to eventual state champ Plano. Running an option-based offense and 4-3 defense, last week Bureau Valley avenged its only loss of the season, 28-0 to Big Rivers Conference foe Morrison, with a 12-6 win in four overtimes. Though Ohlson said the pass isn't "foreign" to the Storm, when things are going right the offense hands the ball off to several players; senior Josiah Johnston and junior Michael Weidner, with a respective 820 and 541 yards rushing, lead six players who've surpassed 200 yards rushing, Johnston scoring 13 touchdowns. The Storm has run for 2,785 yards to opponents' 1,069. Junior quarterback John King, who has completed 47 percent of his passes for 845 yards, 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, targets mainly Ryan Hix and Austin Peterson, the latter leading the Storm with 25 catches. Senior two-year starter Nate Swanson stands 6-8 and weighs 310, but Ohlson maintains his offensive front is not as big as that of IC. Defensively Bureau Valley is led by linebackers Clifton Maxwell and Weidner, with the respective crazy numbers of 159 and 148 tackles. Peterson has 6 interceptions. Controlling field position, occupying the ball and time of possession is the mantra for Bureau Valley. IC is no different. The Knights have run for 3,098 yards this season, on the broad shoulders of junior Carlos Rodriguez and senior Paul Hornstra, who have gained a respective 1,178 and 1,145 yards with 26 total rushing touchdowns. Last week quarterback Will Cronin chipped in with 87 yards on 9 carries, and though he's completed only 33 of 67 passes for 500 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, his passing has increasingly been accurate and timely. But as Ohlson said about his own team, when things are working the Knights are running the ball and stopping the run. Offensive linemen Matt Purdom, Dan Delaney, Robert Rivera, Marco Medina and Josh Fenton have all put in yeoman work as the season has progressed. Defensively, outside linebackers Robert Peachey and Rodriguez - who against Lena-Winslow had the game of his life with 191 yards rushing, 11 tackles and a pooch kickoff recovered by another lineman, Nick Stam - flew to the seams to help hold 1,500-yard rusher Wes Ertmer to 2 yards on 8 carries before the second team took over. While IC must respect Bureau Valley's big-play passing ability, the weather-induced move to Wheaton College's turf won't change much of what either wants to do. "Right now," Schmidt said, "it's as big as it gets."

Class 4A

No. 4 Driscoll (9-2) at No. 1 Aurora Christian (11-0)

Game time: 6 p.m. Saturday.

The quick hit: A new foe for the seven-time defending state champion Driscoll Highlanders. Private School League champion Aurora Christian has spent the prior four years in 1A and 3A, though it did reach the Class 4A quarterfinals in 2004. Coached by former Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers receiver Don Beebe, Aurora Central has shared two common opponents with Driscoll. The Eagles opened the season with a 22-12 win over Immaculate Conception (Driscoll beat IC 28-0) and won in Week 2, 10-6 over Mendota. In Driscoll's 14-7 second-round win over No. 5 seed Mendota, the Highlanders needed cornerback Mike Lombardo's touchdown-saving tackle and then a goal-line stand as time expired, with Andrew O'Reilly at the bottom of the pile and Frank Barcal and Chris Nudo piling on. "We talked all week about coming together as a team, and when we made the goal-line stand, there was nothing bigger than that," said Driscoll coach Brandon New. The first-year head coach would have liked to have scored more than 14 points, on a touchdown run by Clay Cooper and a touchdown pass to 6-foot-5 Austin Baker from Steven Schwabe - the ninth time this season those two have worked the magic - but Beebe obviously is not taking this challenge lightly. Asked which individuals must come to the fore defensively he said, "all 11." Though Mendota limited Driscoll tailback Nick Campanella to a quiet 36 yards rushing on 11 carries, the junior made up for it with 7 catches for 101 yards. As the exciting Campanella goes, for the most part so goes Driscoll. New figured the Highlanders' 3-5 defense would give up some rushing yards to ground-based Mendota and it did, a manageable 186 yards. Driscoll needs another bend-but-don't-break effort against Aurora Christian, a team New said is as good as any Driscoll's faced all year. Getting pressure on the quarterback from usual suspects Trace Jenkins and Sean Banahan at defensive end is critical, as is tight coverage by the cornerbacks on the perimeter with help from the safeties over the top. New, a former receiver, said Aurora Christian's Jordan Roberts is a quarterback he'd have loved to have played with. Why not? Roberts is the IHSA's all-time leader in touchdown passes with 117 and in passing yardage with 8,962; this season the senior four-year starter has completed 156 of 266 passes for 2,224 yards and a fantastical 36 touchdowns to 4 interceptions. His favorite receiver is Matt Morse, who has caught 42 passes for 854 yards and 17 touchdowns. Roberts also flings it to David Zielke, Zac Copple and Luis Solorio. The Eagles are more than a high-flying air assault as 190-pound fullback Lewis Gaddis has run for 956 yards and 6 touchdowns; in Aurora Christian's 28-20 win over No. 8 seed Coal City, Gaddis ran for 121 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. Beebe, who played in six Super Bowls, will fight to get his players past the Driscoll aura; New sees it like so: "It's going to come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes, to execution and, ultimately, to who wants it more."

Class 5A

No. 4 St. Francis (10-1) at No. 1 Montini (11-0)

Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday.

The quick hit: Before profiling this Class 5A quarterfinal between Suburban Catholic Conference champion Montini and the runner-up, let's revisit St. Francis' sole loss - Montini's 41-21 Week 4 win over the Spartans on Sept. 19. Led by Mark Kachmer's 184 yards, 100 from Stan Bobowski and quarterback Jeff Reckards' 11-of-22 passing for 119 yards, St. Francis outgained Montini and ran 73 plays to the Broncos' 44. Yet the Spartans committed three turnovers inside Montini's 20-yard line, allowing Montini's wizard at quarterback, Tom DiCristina, to complete 15 of 21 passes for 231 yards with single touchdown passes to Brendan Shannon and Jeff Spokas and 2 to Grant Goebel, who also had a 39-yard interception return. That was then. St. Francis' 42-20 win over No. 5 seed Nazareth may have come as a surprise to some but not to the Spartans, who use speed to great affect on both sides of the ball. Not huge but physical and quick, Jason Lombardi and his linemates controlled scrimmage against a Nazareth team that dared send 10 defenders to the line. Once they broke through, Bobowski scorched Nazareth with 223 yards and 3 touchdowns, Kachmer for 175 yards and 3 touchdowns. On the season Kachmer has run for 1,669 yards and a whopping 27 touchdowns while Bobowski is at 960 yards with 10 scores. Reckards launched an interception last week, but his accuracy on passes has improved and his play-action gives Montini coach Chris Andriano great concern. Receiver Brett Robinson leads the Spartans with 43 catches for 710 yards and 6 touchdowns. Yet St. Francis is not simply a scoring machine. Except for Reckards the aforementioned names turn right around and play defense, joining the likes of Tony Vargyas, Dave Sufranski, Ryan O'Donnell and Ryan Ferguson, leading tackler with 65 solos and 32 assists. The 3-5 base defense has held teams to just over 200 yards a game and last week intercepted 6 passes. It is a great unit that coach Greg Purnell - trying to lead St. Francis to its first semifinal in history - said must tackle better than on Sept. 19. The Montini Broncos, who are 29-19 all-time in the postseason with 16 straight playoff appearances, average 351.5 yards a game. Both last week's wind and No. 9 Hillcrest's speed in man-to-man pass coverage forced DiCristina into his poorest passing game of the season, 9 of 21 for 125 yards. The senior still threw 2 touchdown passes to bring his season total to 21, and he had 28 carries, most designed runs, for 146 yards and 3 touchdowns. Andriano hopes running back Matt Sloan can return Saturday; he's been out since Week 5 with a knee injury, a week after running for 77 yards against St. Francis. Another week of pass protection and run blocking is in order for Montini, but Andriano's key is run defense that forces St. Francis into predictable passing situations. That's where linemen Ross Ferraro and Mark Kaseeska, linebackers Nick Erlenbaugh and Ryan Gorrell come in. "If they're gaining 5 yards or more on first down then we're in trouble," Andriano said.

Class 6A

No. 2 Antioch (11-0) at No. 6 Glenbard South (9-2)

Game time: 3 p.m. Saturday.

The quick hit: Glenbard South never has won 10 football games or played in a state semifinal. The Raiders can accomplish both goals with a win on Saturday. In front of a live statewide audience on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, it won't be easy. Antioch is making its first playoff appearance since 2005 in hopes of reaching the semifinals for the third time. Unbeaten in the regular season for the first time since 1983, a win would break the program record for victories. The Sequoits are powered by a punishing double-wing ground game - no one's held it under 21 points this season - led by do-it-all senior running back Cameron White. The 5-foot-9, 164-pound senior has rushed for 1,573 yards, including 193 in last week's 35-34 overtime win over Highland Park and holds the program records for career touchdowns and rushing yards. White is just as dangerous on special teams. In a first-round blowout of Harlan he returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns. The Raiders' defensive front of nose man Kevin Marshall and tackles Branden Shustar and Billy Trakas need to be wary of Antioch's somewhat secret weapon - fullback Steve Lorenzini. The 5-10, 175-pound junior also has rushed for more than 1,000 yards for an offense boasting nearly 3,500 rushing yards. The Raiders' defense, led in part by linebacker Louis Erkins, end Austin Teitsma and safety Ryan McKean, shut down Hubbard's run game in the second half of last week's 14-7 second-round win. It forced the Greyhounds to pass the ball, which is when Kevin O'Brien and a fierce pass rush had a field day by notching 4 second-half sacks. The Raiders' two losses, against still-unbeaten Glenbard West and Geneva, came to run-dominant teams. The goal against the Sequoits is similar to those games: keep their offense off the field, get out to a lead and force them to pass the ball. To make it happen, the Raiders must be much better offensively than they were against Hubbard. Before rallying in the second half, the Raiders managed only 3 first downs and 54 total yards. With Curtis Ford establishing the ground game, pushing him to 992 rushing yards on the season, the offense finally got moving in the second half. Trace Wanless, who's thrown for 1,149 yards, 18 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, completed his last 6 passes of the game. The Raiders thrive on offensive diversity with a group that features receivers Nick Slezak and Jon Holland, a team leader with 33 catches, 675 yards and 9 touchdowns. Everything depends on an underrated line that's been highly dependable all season. Antioch's defensive strength begins on the line with Alec Paramski, who spearheaded a 2-point conversion stop in overtime to preserve the Sequoits' season. Saturday's winner has no time to rest on its laurels. Next week's Class 6A upper bracket semifinal also will include the winner of Saturday night's game between upset-minded 13th-seed Grant (8-3) and top-seeded Lemont (11-0), last season's 6A runner-up.

Class 7A

No. 1 Glenbard West (11-0) at No. 7 Downers North (7-4)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The quick hit: Hello West Suburban Silver! Glenbard West's speed and power combo has dominated pretty much all season. Downers North, which hasn't lost since falling 35-0 in Glen Ellyn on Oct. 11, is probably the Cinderella of all eight classes. Don't count on Glenbard West to look past the Trojans, not with the statewide respect their coaching staff's earned or that win over No. 2 Wheaton Warrenville South. "They better be ready for a dogfight," Hilltoppers coach Chad Hetlet said of his boys, "because that's what it's going to be." They were like whippers last week in a 56-14 win over No. 4 seed Fenwick. Bryant Venson scored on a 64-yard run and on an 82-yard kickoff return in a 38-second span, and his team expanded on a 29-14 halftime lead with 27 unanswered points. Running backs Robert Cook and Venson ran for a respective 112 and 104 yards, giving Cook a milestone 1,092 yards on the season. After beating Wheaton North 14-0 in the playoff opener this was the breakout Hetlet sought. Though the Hilltoppers are primarily a ground-based offense behind the likes of Notre Dame-bound lineman Chris Watt, Hetlet wants some semblance of balance. When Chris Cochrane and Tyler Warden do pass, the plays can be huge. Led by Jessie Condie's 27 catches for 601 yards, Glenbard West averages 22.5 yards a reception. Plays like Venson's 64-yard TD run or Condie's 25-yarder against Fenwick are the backbreakers Downers North coach John Wander is afraid of. With all the offensive numbers - Adam Bruere, Matt Hassan and Steve Jones join Cook and Venson all with at least 315 yards rushing - perhaps the best number comes from an outstanding 3-5 defense. Spearheaded by 22-sack man Theo Odom, hard-hitting safety Dave McCaffrey and linebackers Kyle Krumwiede and Garrett Richards, who missed the first Downers North game with a twisted ankle, Glenbard West has allowed only 563 yards rushing, 51.1 a game. That flies in the face of what Downers Grove North needs to do - run the option at a 3.5-yard clip, move the chains, kill the clock, keep the score low and the margin within about 7 points. The plan was executed perfectly in last week's 16-0 win over No. 3 seed Proviso East, in which the Trojans got a 10-yard touchdown by Jermal Jones, a safety by linebacker Leo Ellis IV and a 5-yard run by inspirational leader, quarterback-middle linebacker Dan Sheppard. Downers North led time of possession 33:03-14:57 and Sheppard and defensive ends Ryan Mussatto and Connor Edwards paced 19 combined sacks and tackles for loss to hold Proviso West to a shocking minus-2 yards. In that 35-0 loss to Glenbard West the Trojans managed 43 yards rushing and punted or fumbled in the first seven series, though Sheppard suffered from back spasms. Wander would like balance but with 14 interceptions to 1 touchdown the goal is find some lanes for Sheppard, Jones and Joe Tokarski, who've combined for nearly all the team's 2,145 rushing yards. Whatever. As Wander has said, "Just win, baby."

Class 8A

No. 9 Hinsdale Central (9-2) at No. 5 Brother Rice (9-2)

Game time: 7 p.m. Friday.

The quick hit: In Hinsdale bitter memories remain of the Red Devils' Nov. 2, 2007, second-round ouster by Brother Rice. Hinsdale Central led 20-14 with less than three minutes to play when Red Devils quarterback John Whitelaw was sacked and lost the ball on a controversial fumble all the way back to Hinsdale Central's own 4-yard line. Two plays later Jeremy Rhodes scored the tying touchdown and Sean Nobel kicked it through the uprights for a 21-20 Crusaders win. Rhodes and playmaking defender Steve Wesselhoff - who also blocked the kick that would have given Hinsdale Central its 21st point - have since graduated, but the memory is intact. "They remember it," Hinsdale Central coach Mike DiMatteo said of his team, "so they'd like to make amends." The end of last year's game illustrates one of many things that has again made Brother Rice a fine team: the Crusaders have scored 70 points off turnovers. But Hinsdale Central has run a pretty tight ship despite having such great open-field runners as Whitelaw, with 992 yards rushing, and Rich Zajeski, who was the story of last week's 35-14 win over No. 1 seed Bolingbrook after his 62- and 67-yard touchdown runs in his first game back from a Week 7 ankle injury. Coming off that 178-yard game Zajeski has run for 714 yards on the season and averages 13.7 a carry. Against a disciplined Brother Rice defense, it'll take more doing from Red Devils linemen David Kiyosaki, Jim Kallas, Jack Allen, Jack Curatolo and Collin Watkins. With all eyes on Zajeski and Whitelaw, DiMatteo aims to spread the wealth to other quick talents like leading receivers Mick Culligan and Alex Kirk. As fast and mobile as Hinsdale Central is, DiMatteo complimented Brother Rice as "slow and steady." Coach Steve Nye's Crusaders, who have lost 35-10 to Mt. Carmel and 14-10 to St. Rita, are a Wing-T outfit that has run for 2,286 yards yet no one back has more than Frank Renardo's 658 yards. Similarly in the passing game, all-Catholic League quarterback Tom Gibson has completed 101 of 154 passes for 1,175 yards, 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Renardo, again, is the top receiver with 24 catches for 230 yards, one of six with at least 110 yards in receptions. Defensively the Crusaders are led by linebacker J.J. Marren with 101 tackles, and linebacker Shannon Rogers (78), who recovered the fumble that led to the winning score last year. Speaking of fumbles, after opening its playoff run with a 44-6 win over No. 12 seed Sandburg, Brother Rice committed 4 turnovers and just squeaked past No. 13 Belleville East, 9-7. But when you've got a Minnesota-bound punter like Dan Orseske and a kicker in Nobel who's converted all 10 field-goal tries - his 25-yarder with 19 seconds left beat Belleville East - slow and steady works. After all, Brother Rice trailed Hinsdale Central 21-3 in the 8A quarterfinals and won 24-21. "They hang around and hang around and hang around and the next thing you know, you lose," DiMatteo said.

- Dave Oberhelman and Kevin Schmit