Scouting: Larkin @ St. Charles North

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

Game time 730 p.m. today

Last year St. Charles North 41, Larkin 0.

Last week Larkin 40, Lake Forest Academy 21; Waubonsie Valley 35, St. Charles North 28.

Outlook St. Charles North did score 21 fourth-quarter points on Waubonsie Valley, so on that angle North Stars coach Mark Gould was pleased his boys "didn't lay down" in the Upstate Eight challenge. On the other hand, he said a lot of things "showed up" that he'd like to see handled differently. "You try to learn a lot from a game like that, and that's what we're trying to do," Gould said. Larkin will be the beneficiary of this newly gained knowledge. Coach Matt Gehrig's Royals have lost only once, allowing 20 unanswered second-half points to UEC co-leader Lake Park in Week 3. The Royals' main man is running back Jalen Williams, who was an all-conference pick last year as a defensive back. Entering the Lake Forest Academy game with 424 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns, the 5-foot-7, 160-pound senior tacked on 364 more yards, on 33 carries with touchdown runs of 24, 20, 78, 23 and 14 yards. The threat outside is huge, but North Stars defenders like Conner Mohs will be targeting that football as Williams also fumbled twice last week. St. Charles North will also try to get in the grill of sophomore quarterback Kyle Newquist, and Royals receiver Reid Ellis scored on a 9-yard run. The all-encompassing effort, however, will be to stop Williams, so outside linebackers Dom Imbordino and Matt Scanlon, cornerbacks Pat Killeen and Justin Miller will try to push him back inside. Offensively, the North Stars anticipate another solid game by quarterback Jake Bergren, who gets the call again after thus far winning a quarterback battle with Matt Shiltz and Conner McShane. Bergren opened last week's scoring with a 61-yard touchdown run and led the Stars in rushing with 87 yards. He also threw 2 touchdown passes to the unsinkable Jeff Stolzenburg, including another one-handed catch in which the 6-foot-4 receiver somehow pinned the football against his lower leg to make the grab. If Larkin follows the Waubonsie game film, then St. Charles North offensive linemen will be on the lookout for hard linebacker blitzes, and Bergren may take advantage with an initial short passing game. But again, if the North Stars can contain Williams, all of the rest should be a whole lot easier. "The whole defense is going to need to step up," Gould said.

Next week Larkin at Elgin (1-3, 1-0)