Scouting: Waubonsie V. @ St. Charles North

Waubonsie Valley (2-1, 1-0)

at St. Charles North (3-0, 1-0)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today

Last year: Did not play.

Last week: Waubonsie Valley 21, Bartlett 14; St. Charles North 55, East Aurora 6.

Outlook: It's not too soon to say this game could decide the Upstate Eight Conference. These teams haven't met during Paul Murphy's five-year coaching tenure at Waubonsie, not since St. Charles North's 21-14 victory in 2002 that launched the North Stars' streak of seven straight playoff seasons. "It's going to be a chess match early until we find out what they're going to do," Murphy said. Aside from fixing a turnover problem - 13 in 3 games - Murphy hopes the Warriors will continue to establish quarterback Kenny Clay as a running threat along with tailback Tre Clark. Clay carried 11 times for 116 yards last week with touchdown runs of 12 and 75 yards to rally Waubonsie from a 14-7 halftime deficit. Clay also threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Buckner. All-Area receiver Scott Kuehn will also look for an upswing after catching 1 pass for 8 yards against Bartlett. Warrior linebackers Owen Saldana, David Greenspan and Cory Connolly counter a St. Charles North team - fronted by skilled linemen Matt Mautone, Ryan Brown, Matt Huffman, Curtis Van Petten and Patrick Smith - that scored the second-most points in program history last week (56 vs. South Elgin in 2006). Senior tailback Jordan Huxtable, who returned the most rushing yards in the Tri-Cities area with 892 in 2008, came back from an ankle injury to break the first of his 2 carries 33 yards for a touchdown. "We've got to shut down their running game," Murphy said. "If we don't it's going to be a long night for us." After a three-week regular-season quarterback competition between Jake Bergren, Connor McShane and Matt Shiltz, St. Charles North coach Mark Gould has decided on his full-time starter... but was not predisposed to name him earlier this week. Either way, the quarterback has a receiver in Jeff Stolzenburg who continues to make the big play; last week he grabbed a tipped McShane pass for a 44-yard touchdown. Key factors, Gould said, are neutralizing Waubonsie's defensive speed and eliminating the Warriors' big plays. "They've been picked by most people to win the conference," Gould said, "so it's something we look at and say this definitely could be for the conference championship."

Next week: Neuqua Valley (0-3, 0-1) vs. Waubonsie Valley at North Central College, Sept. 25; Larkin (2-1, 0-1) at St. Charles North, Sept. 25.