Scouting: High school football playoffs
No. 6 Crystal Lake South (10-2) at No. 1 Geneva (12-0)
Game time: 7 p.m. today
Last week: Crystal Lake South 14, Cary-Grove 7, OT; Geneva 35, Carmel 21
Winner will play: No. 1 Glenbard West or No. 2 East Saint Louis in the Class 7A championship at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Nov. 29 at 4 p.m.
Players to watch: If you like football and want to see someone who continually gets into the end zone and doesn't do a ridiculous dance or pull out a Sharpie and sign the football, then by all means come out and watch Michael Ratay run. The dynamite senior running back's stellar two-year career is dashing by and he'll be competing at Burgess Field for the last time today, in hopes of earning the team a birth in the Class 7A championship. He's not the only senior who will bid farewell to Burgess as 34 other Geneva seniors will play under its lights on a Friday night for the last time and try to do their part to schedule a trip to Champaign. Ratay has rushed for 41 touchdowns this fall, which is tied for fifth most in IHSA history for a single season. He's aiming for his 19th consecutive 100-plus yard rushing game, has rushed for 200 or more yards in half of the Vikings 12 wins this season, and is averaging better than 9 yards per carry. While opponents know Ratay is going to get the ball 20-plus times per game, that hasn't helped them stop him, and now, three months into the season, the passing game of the Vikings is vastly improved from where it was in late August. Junior quarterback Brandon Beitzel has thrown for 1,085 yards and 10 touchdowns, but most significant is the fact that he's completed 26-of-39 passes for 375 yards and 4 touchdowns with 0 interceptions during the postseason. Beitzel has not thrown an interception since Rochelle standout Ben Schwartz snagged one on Oct. 10. Jason Holmes (21 catches, 379 yards, 5 TDs) and Brandon Lee (18 catches, 275 yards) may be the team's leading receivers, but Ratay (almost half of his receptions have come in the playoffs), fullback Drew Fagot, and the tight ends also allow the Vikings' to mix things up a bit, especially with screen passes. Crystal Lake South averaged less than 3 yards per carry last week, but it proved to be enough as the Gators found the end zone twice. Derek Mortensen and Colin Masterson had 40 of the team's 46 carries last week and will be pivotal to the Gators' success tonight, but a lot will depend on whether or not sophomore quarterback Drew Ormseth (1,250 yards passing, 15 TDs) is able to get the chains moving. Kameron Scott, tight end Vince Benedetto (3 receptions last week) and wide receivers Alec Giles and Steve Rogers have been key playmakers this fall for the Gators.
Outlook: Geneva coach Rob Wicinski is hopeful that the third time's a charm as the Vikings have lost both times they've played in the semifinals (20-7 to Bloomington in 2004 and 28-0 to Batavia in 2006) during his tenure as their head coach. Meanwhile, Crystal Lake South hopes to play big-time spoiler for the third consecutive game. The Gators not only ended the seasons of Rockford Boylan and Cary-Grove in the past two weeks, but they also handed them each their only loss of the season. Now they face their third consecutive undefeated team in the Vikings. "It's going to be exciting, no doubt about it, but now we're going to face a team on a completely different level," Gators coach Jim Stuglis said. "To think we're going to force them into mistakes is silly. We have to play at a higher level than ever before, and hopefully we'll be able to do that but I don't know if that's possible." Carmel's starting defense had only allowed 1 rushing touchdown prior to Ratay running wildly for 3 touchdowns and 192 yards last week. But, the potent Cary-Grove running attack was stopped in its tracks last week as standout fullback Eric Chandler was limited to only 40 yards on 16 carries by the Gators' 3-3-5 defense. "They're rarely out of position defensively," Wicinski said. "Some teams get into this defense and stunt their brains out, but that's not the case with them. They have a purpose and their three down line men are really impressive and know what they want to do." If defensive end Max Bush, defensive tackle Ryan Kuhn (2 fumble recoveries last week), linebacker J.D. Barchard and free safety Mike Frericks and the rest of the Gators are going to pull off the upset they're going to have to overcome the confident, successful and synchronized play of the Vikings offensive line. "The o-line really got off the ball last week and that might've been the best game they've had all year," Wicinski said. "And we still could've played better." Right guard Bryce Biel has a cast to protect the strained ligament in his elbow that he sustained last week so he should be ready to play along with Anthony Miller, John McNeil, Greg Gregory and Anthony Strauss. "Ratay sits behind the offensive line and waits for things to open up and you don't see that patience from a lot of high school kids," Stuglis said. "He's such a special back with power to break through tackles and great balance. It's just hard to believe that it's a high school kid back there." Defensively for the Vikings, middle linebacker Brennan Quinn has a bone bruise on his shin that he continued to play through last week and defensive tackle Frank Boenzi (will find out on Thursday if he's ready to go) hasn't played since the end of the regular season due to mono. They Vikings will be going up against an offense style that Wicinski said "is as close to ours as anyone we've played this season" and a team that's extremely confident. "Those wins over (Rockford) Boylan and Cary were no accident. They're playing very good football right now," he said. "They're very persistent and it doesn't bother them to go three and out and punt the ball and let their defense play. In a lot of ways they're like us." Something else to keep in mind: The last time Crystal Lake South played in the semifinals was 2005 when the Gators lost to Class 6A champion Morris by a score of 33-13. John Dergo led the Redskins that year by rushing for 3,010 yards and establishing a record for touchdowns in a season (52). Wouldn't it be something for the Vikings if Crystal Lake South lost to Class 7A champion Geneva and Ratay were to break Highland's Billy Greenwald's record for rushing touchdowns in a season (45) in the process?
Bottom line: No team has found a way to stop Ratay. Unless the Gators can contain him enough so he doesn't hurt them with too many big plays, then the only concern tonight is going to be whether or not the Vikings fans can contain their enthusiasm during a long Thanksgiving week as they'll be gearing up to play for their first state title since Gerald R. Ford lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
No. 1 Aurora Christian (12-0) at No. 14 Richmond-Burton (8-4)
Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday
Last week: Aurora Christian 24, Driscoll 17; Richmond-Burton 21, Geneseo 0
Winner will play: No. 2 Bloomington Central Catholic or No. 1 Breese Mater Dei in the Class 4A championship at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Nov. 28 at 7 p.m.
Outlook: On paper, it appears Aurora Christian cleared its hardest hurdle to reach state for the first time by ending Driscoll's streaks of 7 straight state titles and 37 straight playoff wins last week. With Richmond-Burton a No. 14 seed that went 5-4 in the regular season, it would appear hard not to like the Eagles' chances. But the Rockets have caught fire in the playoffs with three straight upsets, 35-24 over Reed-Custer, 48-14 over Genoa-Kingston and last week's shutout. In fact, the Rockets have won seven straight since opening the season 1-4. This also will be the first time in the playoffs the Eagles play a game away from home and their state-of-the-art playing surface. Linebacker Ryan Perik said overconfidence will not be a problem after losing in the semifinals to Plano last year after entering that game with a 12-0 record. "We're not going to be celebrating about that," Perik said. "We got to the same place last year and came up short. We want to make sure we win this next game and get into the championship game and not overlook any team." Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe is concerned about Richmond's run game and defense. The good news for the Eagles is that they did a great job stuffing Driscoll's run game, led by linemen Peter Kariotis, Dylan Smith and Braxton Warner, linebackers Lewis Gaddis and Perik, and several others. The Eagles' offense and special teams will look to improve on four turnovers last week. If they eliminate those, the ground game with Gaddis and passing game with Jordan Roberts, Matt Morse and David Zielke could be a challenge or the Rockets to stop.