Wheeling stinging after loss of Weston Ross

Wheeling opened the football season with a nice comeback win at Maine West but also lost a big reason it happened for about a month.

Senior running back Weston Ross, who rushed for a career-high 179 yards on 18 carries and 2 touchdowns, suffered a sprained foot in the fourth quarter. Wheeling coach Dave Dunbar said the Western Michigan recruit will be out for about four weeks.

Dunbar said they couldn't pinpoint what caused Ross' injury. It hurt a little bit Saturday but felt better Monday, but Wheeling athletic trainers sent him to the doctor to make sure everything was OK and the injury was discovered.

Dunbar said junior Adrian Ward, who played some defense against Maine West, will start for Ross in tonight's Mid-Suburban League crossover at Hoffman Estates.

"Matt (offensive coordinator) Mishler will keep running the offense he's running," Dunbar said. "Those kinds of things happen but you have to keep going on and other people have to step up and play."

A few years ago that would have been unlikely. Now the Wildcats expect to handle this the same as the heavy graduation losses suffered from the program's first consecutive playoff appearances.

"It is a different atmosphere and these guys don't know any different," Wheeling defensive coordinator Brian Hauck said in the preseason of the program's success. "There have been two years of playoffs and three to four years of competitive football and that's the way it should be.

"They know Wildcat football is about toughness, commitment, heart and character - all the things Dave preaches. That's back."

More of the same for Lions: St. Viator wasn't too unhappy about being pushed to the wire before it pulled out a 14-0 victory over crosstown rival Hersey.

"They're pretty good and every game is going to be tough," said Viator coach Chris Kirkpatrick of the first shutout since Week 6 of 2006 (28-0 over Notre Dame).

Senior linebacker Jack Etchingham, whose fourth-quarter interception return for a touchdown finally provided some breathing room, thinks this could have been beneficial.

"You're never going to blow people out in the ESCC (East Suburban Catholic Conference)," Etchingham said. "The more close games we get the better prepared we can be.

"I thought we played great (defensively) all game. We bent a couple times but the biggest thing is we never broke.

"(Defensive coordinator Bob) Moynihan told us to bend but don't break and we didn't break tonight."

Viator hosts Dunbar tonight at Forest View before opening ESCC play against St. Patrick.

Encouraging for Huskies: Hersey was disappointed but hardly despondent after the way it played - particularly defensively - against Viator.

"We'll be all right and we'll pick it up," said Hersey senior linebacker Jake Knauss. "We have to fix a few kinks and we'll be right back on track."

The Huskies were clearly on the right track defensively after allowing only a second-quarter touchdown.

"They're a lot better than everybody gives them credit for," said Viator coach Chris Kirkpatrick.

"Our defense stood up time and time again in our end," said Hersey coach Mark Gunther. "We pressured the quarterback and held their big weapon guys. There were a lot of positive signs."

One of them was the in-game improvement of senior Brandon Klein in his first varsity start at quarterback. He was 5-for-13 at halftime for 36 yards but hit his first 5 passes after intermission to finish 15-for-27 for 120 yards.

"Brandon is going to be just fine," Gunther said. "We need to give him more help.

"The offensive line faced a stiff challenge and we need to be more consistent there and take the pressure off everybody."

They'll get another big test tonight against Fremd.

A spectacular start: Elk Grove has its home opener tonight against reigning MSL West co-champion Palatine. But a 39-7 victory at Niles North in Brian Doll's head coaching debut hardly seemed like a road disadvantage.

"It was definitely surreal being my first game as a head coach and the way the community supported us over there," Doll said. "We had double or triple their fans and it kind of felt like we had a home game."

There was also some additional support on the sideline for the New Trier alum and former assistant coach since its opener was postponed to Saturday.

"The whole staff was standing on the sideline and I said, 'This feels like a home game for me,'" Doll said. "You definitely couldn't ask for a better start and the school spirit has been great."

Welcome additions: The career leader in victories among MSL coaches wasn't afraid to bring in some extra help this year.

Even if it meant Fremd's Mike Donatucci added one of the school's biggest old rivals in former Palatine head coach Joe Petricca, who was 103-40 in his tenure there and also assisted Prospect's first two state titles. Petricca will help Steve Patton with the offense.

Donatucci also brought in a former colleague from their days at Hoffman Estates in Danny Davis to work with the secondary with Bob Hanson. Davis had been away from the sideline for a decade.

"The one thing I like is we're very open as a staff and you're never too old to learn stuff and get a different perspective from people who have been around," Donatucci said in the preseason. "To get people who just have tremendous football backgrounds fills in some gaps."

Big man watch: Prospect senior offensive lineman Matt Huene is a bit of an unknown since he missed all of last year because of a freak ripped tendon in his knee.

But Prospect coach Brent Pearlman hopes big things could happen for the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Huene if he has a big year.

"He's very good and this summer he was very impressive," Pearlman said in the preseason. "He still has to prove it against another team but we feel great about this guy.

"He's been to some camps and they love him. He's going to have to perform in games and I'm confident he will."

Conant junior offensive lineman Kenny Kalish also figures to wind up on Division I radar screens at 6-4 and 340 pounds.

"He's all of it and he'll be the most recruitable player we've had in 25 years," Conant coach Bill Modelski said. "A couple of guys have said, 'He's pretty good and he's going to be recruited.' He's not a bad athlete and he can play."

Points of emphasis: The National Federation of State High School Associations has made the horse-collar tackle a 15-yard penalty. It is now illegal to grab the inside collar or side collar of the runner's shoulder pads or jersey and pull him to the ground.

The NFHS also has limited the number of coaches to three allowed in restricted areas during a dead-ball situation. They coaches must retreat to the team box before the ball becomes live in an effort to reduce sideline congestion.

But Leyden coach Tom Cerasani thought the latter was taken to the extreme in the opener with Fenton when it received a sideline warning because longtime statistician and historian Jack Gregg was in the box.

"I said to the referee, 'You seriously called that on an 83-year-old man who's been doing this for 60 years,'" Cerasani said with a laugh.

Gregg did point out this was the first time since Fenton opened in 1959 it played its nearby rivals from Leyden or East Leyden. It did play the old Bensenville High School between 1926 and 1958.

Magnificent seven: Palatine has a bunch of Bo Jacksons in its football lineup. Jim Smearman, Trey Cannon, Dan Haze, Joe Campe, Phil Brand, Cody Bobbit and Mike Luschen also started on the baseball team which made a big second-half surge.

"They hate to lose and they get on each other," said Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly. "They're competitors."

Streak-busters: Gabe Corey's return to Maine East was a success as it ended a 39-game losing streak with a 19-9 win over Schurz. Its last win was 22-0 against Niles North in 2004.

The Demons will try to make it two in a row for the first time since the start of the 2004 season against Ridgewood.