Cook County football notes
Elk Grove's first two victories were over long before the fourth quarter started.
The win which surpassed last year's total saw the Grenadiers finally get started in the final 12 minutes of a 22-19 Mid-Suburban League crossover decision over rival Conant.
"In the other two (wins) there weren't a lot of pressure situations - but we had our backs up against the wall in the fourth quarter," first-year Elk Grove coach Brian Doll said of the Conant comeback. "(Assistant coach) Rob Pomazak said it best, 'Boy, did we just grow up.'
"Nick (junior quarterback Meyer) is really starting to take charge of the game now. He almost knows the calls before they come in."
Now the Grenadiers get a shot at two-time playoff qualifier Wheeling to open MSL East play tonight.
"If you had asked me if I'd be happy at 3-1, I would have said, 'Sure, that sounds great with the way we're putting up points," Doll said. "Now we feel our offense is pretty potent and tough to stop."
Fremd's defensive playmaker: Fremd senior Jayme Szafranski was thinking end zone again in the final minute of last week's 21-20 win over Rolling Meadows.
"I wish I could have stayed on my feet and scored," Szafranski said with a smile of his game-clinching interception. "But a win is a win."
Szafranski is doing a lot to help Fremd keep winning as a hybrid linebacker-safety. He also returned a fumble for a touchdown against Wheeling.
"He is just a player," said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci. "That's three games in a row he makes the big play. He has a motor in him, he's a smart kid and he believes he can make every play.
"He's tough enough to play inside (linebacker) and fast enough to play man (at safety)."
Big cat comes back: The main threat in Wheeling's offense returns tonight from injury in Weston Ross. The Western Michigan-bound senior running back had 179 yards in the opener but also suffered a foot injury.
"That would be nice," Wheeling coach Dave Dunbar said with a laugh of Ross coming right back and producing similar numbers.
"We'll see. I'd expect him to be a little rusty."
Ross did some light running last week under the supervision of Wheeling's athletic trainers. He also dressed for last Thursday's game with Schaumburg to start getting back into a regular routine.
Time for Knights to "D" it up: Prospect's defense has gained a lot of experience the last two weeks as it's been on the field for 74 of a possible 96 minutes.
And coach Brent Pearlman hopes to start seeing a lot less of them in action in the next few weeks. Last week the Knights gave up 537 yards in their 39-37 win over Barrington.
"It's not as if we're terribly out of position but it comes to a point where just have to make plays," Pearlman said. "You kind of get into dangerous territory if you don't do it soon because you wonder, can you ever get it back?
"We have to develop more of a defensive attitude. Guys have to take it somewhat personal that these guys are attacking you."
Last week was the third time in Prospect's first four games it faced a significant size disadvantage up front.
"That is a positive - we got a chance to see it and see kids play against it," Pearlman said. "But we have to create something positive and we have to start playing defense. Because we're not that far away makes it even more frustrating."
Big test for Bison: Buffalo Grove wasn't far from an unbeaten showdown with Prospect. And second-year coach Jim Farrell believes there is no comparison in the consecutive 2-2 starts.
"I think our kids know we can just about play with anybody," Farrell said of nearly beating Barrington and Palatine after suffering blowout losses last year. "We feel like we're a better program a year later and that will give us some confidence going to Prospect and going into the East."
Junior quarterback Mike Garrity also goes in with a lot of confidence after a breakout passing game of 369 yards and 5 touchdowns last week against Hoffman Estates.
"It got to the point where the defense was so run-dominated Hoffman pushed the issue for us to throw the football and we answered the bell there pretty good," Farrell said. "In Mike's previous games we really haven't asked him to carry the burden. We wanted him to manage games and hand off.
"He did a great job of putting the ball where it needed to be and he's got a lot of athletes around him on the perimeter (Kevin Mulligan, John Angotti and Mike Cornely)."
Klosowicz tough to stop: Conant coach Bill Modelski wasn't sure if senior Kyle Klosowicz set a single-game school rushing record with 280 yards last week. Klosowicz has emerged as the MSL's top rusher through four games with 812 yards and 9 touchdowns.
"We knew he was going to be pretty solid but we didn't realize he would be as big a threat as he's become," said Conant coach Bill Modelski.
"Kyle's a much better back than people think," said Elk Grove coach Brian Doll. "He's a great running back and surprisingly faster than I thought he was."
The only problem for Modelski was he said Klosowicz's big night "seems hollow when you don't get the 'W.'"
Especially considering the difference of entering rugged MSL West play at 1-3.
"It puts us behind the eight-ball in a lot of ways," Modelski said.
Broncos' running men: Prospect wound up chasing Barrington sophomore Chase Murdock a school-record 44 times for 282 yards and quarterback Terrance Terry 30 times for 198 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Murdock's carries broke the mark of 41 by Michigan State junior Andre Anderson in the 2005 playoffs at York. But it wasn't enough to topple state-ranked Prospect 39-37.
"We did almost everything we wanted to except we didn't pull out the win," said Barrington coach Joe Sanchez. "We felt like we could do something with the guys we have up front and the running game. We just needed to come up with one or two more plays.
"We learned we could go up with one of the best teams in the state of Illinois and go toe-to-toe with them."
The 1-3 Broncos will get another test tonight when they host unbeaten Fremd in the MSL West opener.
"The first five games have been a bear but it's good," Sanchez said. "We're getting a chance to see where we measure up and rank and a chance to mix it up with some of the better teams in our area and state.
"It shows us our margin for error is slim."
Tough tests for Palatine: Last week's 35-14 win over Hersey was the widest margin for Palatine in its 4-0 start. But even that was a one-touchdown game in the fourth quarter.
"I think we've played four good teams - and I think we've gotten tested by good teams," said Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly. "We have tons of room for improvement but I think offensively we're pretty solid and our defense at times looks pretty good."
Palatine has also committed only 2 turnovers and junior quarterback Cody Bobbit hasn't thrown an interception.
"That's a huge difference from last year," Donnelly said. "As long as we do that I think we'll have a chance to be in every game."
Welcome return for Hawks: Hoffman Estates is hoping the return of junior quarterback David Gutierrez from a foot injury will be a differenc-maker.
"With our triple option we have three weapons we feel pretty good about," said Hoffman coach Bill Helzer of Gutierrez, Foyin Alade and Shammar McFarland. "It opens up the passing game and we moved the ball last week.
"We finally had some sustained drives and hopefully that's a sign of what's to come. It was very encouraging."
So was the running of junior Michael Reeves, which allowed Hoffman to move Alade to the outside.
"Michael has done a great job for us," Helzer said. "He fits the mold of what you're looking for - a bowling ball down the middle in the 'A' gaps."
Something's brewing: Schaumburg senior Warren Brewer saw his three-year varsity career summed up in last week's 37-13 win at Wheeling.
A quiet start followed by a loud finish.
Brewer's 4 carries through three quarters were nothing memorable. His four carries in the fourth quarter were close to incredible as all of them went for touchdowns - the first two of 73 and 67 yards - to turn a close game into a runaway.
Brewer finished with 187 yards on 8 carries.
"He's explosive and he continues to improve," said Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling. "This is kind of what we expected of him."
Angel in Leyden's backfield: Leyden senior Angel Maldonado is moving toward program history. The third-year varsity running back has 2,280 career yards and is second to Jermaine Shaw's 2,786 from 1997-99.
Maldonado has rushed for at least 160 yards in each game this season and had 196 against Hinsdale South.
"They know Angel is getting it and it's, 'Try to stop it,'" said Leyden coach Tom Cerasani. "He's a load - 210 pounds coming right at you. He's tough to tackle."
MSL crossover accounting: The East closed the gap but the West came out on top for the fourth straight year with a 10-8 advantage. Last year it was 14-4 after two seasons at 12-6.
The West has an 8-4 advantage in MSL crossovers since the league realigned before the 1998 season.
Long snaps: Defending Class 7A state champion East St. Louis' petition to the IHSA to stay in that class for the postseason was granted. The Flyers were the highest-enrollment 6A team according to the IHSA preseason figures, which are used to determine Associated Press state rankings, and will move up into those 7A rankings next week - Proviso West has started 4-0 for the first time in its history and is trying to make its first playoff appearance. The Panthers visit state-ranked Glenbard West on Saturday - Joliet Catholic is thriving at 3-1 despite a minus-8 turnover ratio.