Injuries taking their toll
High school football coaches accept the fact that injuries come with the game.
The preseason, though, is a different story.
Several key area players missed last week's season openers because of injuries suffered in the days leading up to the game. In many cases the timing couldn't be worse.
"You work during practice with certain personnel in mind, and then an injury can really set you behind," said Naperville North coach Larry McKeon. "You don't have enough practice time left to get someone else ready."
Naperville North entered last week down three starter,s including offensive lineman Eric Frey, who was out with a dislocated shoulder. The Huskies then lost Dan Easley, their only returning starter on the line, during their win over Neuqua Valley.
The combination has left Naperville North scrambling a bit on offense. It's a situation familiar to several other teams.
Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet knew he'd be relying heavily upon a sophomore class that dominated its way to a 9-0 record at the freshman level last year. The centerpiece of the youth movement was quarterback Anthony Catanese.
Catanese, however, sprained a knee a week into two-a-days. Backup Jack Andrews, who normally plays in the secondary, will fill in until Catanese hopefully returns in Week 3.
Glenbard South returned an All-Area quarterback in Trace Wanless, but he sprained an ankle in the team scrimmage a week before the opener. Nick Slezak and Bobby Parratore split time under center in a loss to Glenbard West, but Raiders coach Dan Starkey held out hope that Wanless might return for tonight's game against Fenton.
Two other Glenbard South starters, Brandon Phillips and Brian Duffy, returned from injury just in time for last week's game.
At Glenbard North, running back Devin Harkins is out with injury until next week's DuPage Valley Conference opener against Naperville North. The Panthers' ground game still thrived in a win over Oak Park behind an experienced offensive line and Evin Natick's 256 rushing yards.
Like all coaches, though, the Panthers' Ryan Wilkens prefers all hands on deck.
"Devin's got some experience back there so we definitely need him back," Wilkens said.
Scout team: Naperville Central and Waubonsie Valley had the benefit of an extra day's planning because of their Saturday opener at Benedictine University.
The Warriors put the night off to good use last Friday.
"We went and saw Oswego," Warriors coach Paul Murphy said of tonight's Week 2 opponent. "Some (lower-level coaches) went to see Neuqua, some went to see St. Charles East, St. Charles North, Bartlett. We covered them all. Our first five games, we covered them all.
"We know the first six games on our schedule, there's no breather," he said. "We've got to be ready every week."
The downer of last week's long week is that this was a short one. Both teams play tonight.
"There's a lot we need to clean up so we need all the practice we can get," said Naperville Central coach Mike Stine, whose team faces Neuqua Valley.
Rough night: The West Suburban Conference endured a tough opening weekend.
The 14 teams went a combined 5-9 with three of the wins coming from the Silver division. One team that surged into the season was defending Silver champion Glenbard West, which beat rival Glenbard South 49-0.
"I was surprised more teams didn't win," said Hilltoppers coach Chad Hetlet. "I looked at our playoff points and that's when it sank in."
Glenbard West gained only 2 playoff points from the opening weekend thanks to victories by Proviso West and Lyons Twp. In the Gold, Morton - one of only two division winners - has 1 playoff point on Leyden's win over Fenton.
The opening-weekend performance, though, was slightly deceiving. Hinsdale Central and Downers Grove South both lost to state-ranked opponents. Hinsdale Central fell 34-26 to Wheaton Warrenville South while the Mustangs lost 16-14 to Bolingbrook.
No free pass: Hinsdale Central trailed 27-26 following a blocked extra point late in last week's loss to WW South.
On the first play from scrimmage after WW South recovered the Red Devils' onside kick, running back Julian Banuelos ran nearly untouched into the end zone to give the Tigers a 34-26 lead.
The lead looked secure at that point, but the touchdown actually provided Hinsdale Central with a last chance. The Tigers might have been able to drain the clock had they not scored, but the touchdown gave the Red Devils the ball back with about two minutes left, all three timeouts remaining and one the state's premier quarterbacks running the show.
John Whitelaw and the Red Devils moved to the Tigers' 21-yard line in the final minute before turning the ball over on downs.
Given the ease of Banuelos' touchdown, was it possible that Hinsdale Central let the Tigers score in order to get the ball back as quickly as possible?
"It wasn't a plan, it was actually a defensive mistake," said Red Devils coach Mike DiMatteo. "We had a defensive call and they didn't run it. It was a defensive error, that's all."