Injuries adding up at Naperville N.
How much can one team take?
As if Naperville North didn't have enough injuries heading into last week's Glenbard North game, the team suffered a few more during its 21-0 DuPage Valley Conference loss.
On the Huskies' second defensive play of the night senior defensive lineman Blex Vixama, one of the team's few returning starters, went down with a leg injury. Then fellow defensive lineman Brandon Williamson suffered an injury on the next series. Add in a previous injury to Richard Painter, and the defensive line has become much thinner.
Offensively, the news isn't much better. Dan Easley, the lone returning starter on the offensive line, was lost in Week 1, and running back-defensive back Jon Ryan broke a wrist two weeks ago. When Ryan returns he'll only play defense because of the brace on his arm.
Topping it off in the Glenbard North game, junior quarterback Matt LaCosse injured an ankle while chasing down an interception return. LaCosse missed the rest of the game as the Huskies went to backups Dalton Henninger and Trevor Hall, but it looks like LaCosse could return this week.
After dropping the DVC opener and with the teeth of the schedule still to come, the slew of injuries is horrible timing for the Huskies.
"I feel bad for our kids," said Naperville North coach Larry McKeon. "It seems like it's one kid after another. It's just that kind of year. We've never had it quite like this before."
Speaking of hurting: Immaculate Conception senior Carlos Rodriguez wore his No. 32 jersey Saturday as well as a pair of crutches to support the injured knee he suffered Sept. 5 at Walther Lutheran.
A potential all-state player this season who returned 1,504 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns offensively and 84 tackles, 10 for loss with 4 interceptions defensively, Rodriguez will find out if he needs surgery this week.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound senior said doctors told him it was "highly possible" he had an ACL tear in his left knee - to go along with smaller tears in the MCL and meniscus. Unless the surgery is needed, next week he'll start rehab three times a week.
Quotable: If you're around the game of football for the better part of your life, you get a good flavor of its nuances. And of quote material.
Montini coach Chris Andriano has a handle on both.
"It's the Air Force vs. the Army, that's what it's like," the 31-year head coach said of this Saturday's game against St. Francis.
"We want to do it through the air, they want to do it on the ground."
And on motivation against the Spartans...
"We're 0-1 against state champions this year," Andriano said, referring to the Week 1 loss to Sacred Heart-Griffin.
Full backfield: It's beyond pick your poison with Glenbard West's powerful running game.
With more than a half dozen options at their disposal, the Hilltoppers' ground attack is almost unfair to opposing defenses. In last week's key 28-25 West Suburban Silver win over Hinsdale Central, Glenbard West took advantage of a warm Saturday afternoon to throw a bunch of different backfield looks at the Red Devils.
Seven running backs carried the ball, six at least four times. Adam Bruere led the barrage with 14 carries for 73 yards as the team rushed for 262 yards behind a dominant offensive line.
"It really helps because we're fresh and they're dragging on defense," Bruere said. "We'll throw a new guy in there and they can't stop us."
Bruere, Steve Jones and Trace Sorey, the son of former Chicago Bears lineman Revie Sorey, each came into the game recovering from injuries. With Driscoll transfer Pierre Washington-Steel and others in the fold, though, the Hilltoppers have ridiculous backfield depth.
They also offer multiple looks. While Bruere brings 4 yards and a cloud of dust, Washington-Steel has breakaway potential. Jones, Sorey, quarterback Tyler Warden, Nick Burrello, J.T. Mesch ... the Hilltoppers come at teams in so many ways with their ground game.
"It's really unheard of," said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet. "In 16 years of coaching high school football, I've never seen anything like it."
Unsung Panthers: With junior Nick Lifka and seniors Arnas Gintautas and Jack Krejci, Naperville North may have the strongest group of linebackers in the area.
As Glenbard North showed last week, however, its corps of backers isn't too bad itself.
All-DuPage Valley Conference returner John Pullia, Chris Wahrman and Pat Maxwell played pivotal roles as the Panthers shut out Naperville North 21-0 for their first win over the Huskies since 2001.
"They were all over the place," Glenbard North coach Ryan Wilkens said of his linebackers. "They're smart players, they read plays well and they go hard."
After Glenbard North graduated the bulk of an extremely strong defensive line, the defense rebuilt around Pullia at linebacker and fellow all-DVC honoree Brandon Salemi in the secondary.
"We're smaller, but we're faster and we might even be stronger," Maxwell said.
With a 3-0 start - including the first shutout of Naperville North since 2001 - so far, so good.
Minus the phone booth: Like Superman himself, York senior Erik Westerberg has a couple of different uniforms on hand for game day.
Known mostly as a linebacker who's led the Dukes in tackles the last two seasons - and leads them through three games this year - Westerberg also figures greatly into the team's offensive plans.
Injuries forced him to play offensive line the first couple of weeks, but the return of lineman Andrew Lockhart relieved Westerberg of his guard duties.
With the knee injury to fellow two-way player Nick Skuteris, however, Westerberg's been forced into duty as a fullback. And last week's injury to another offensive lineman may bring about Westerberg's return to the trenches.
Because of the possibility that he may play on the line again, the Dukes keep two uniforms on the sideline - Nos. 41 and 51 - due to rules regarding uniform numbers.
No matter the number, though, it's not hard to spot the Dukes' most valuable player.
"I could go on and on about him," said York coach Bill Lech. "He's just one of the hardest-working, most-dedicated kids we've ever had."