Despite injuries in backfield, Glenbard North remains on the run
Through new personnel and injuries, four different Glenbard North running backs have managed to post 100-yard rushing games this season.
The season started with junior Evin Natick's breakout 256-yard effort against Oak Park. The next week, Natick and Devin Harkins each ran for 100 yards.
When injuries hobbled Natick and Harkins, fullback Ben Hester stepped up with 102 yards against Wheaton North. Then, when all three were dinged up, sophomore Phil Jackson debuted at the varsity level with games of 206 and 181 rushing yards the last two weeks.
The Panthers (7-0, 5-0) have shown stunning depth and resiliency in their backfield, but much of the success heading into tonight's DuPage Valley Conference showdown against Wheaton Warrenville South (6-1, 5-0) is due to the linemen blocking for the backs.
"Our five guys have all been solid for us," said Panthers coach Ryan Wilkens. "We're very happy with the way the offensive line has played."
Center Mike Partipillo, guard Nick Wozniak and tackle Bobby Dunn, who recently committed to Air Force as a long snapper, anchor the experienced line. And, despite all the injuries in the backfield, the line has remained pretty much intact all season.
"It's surprising," Wilkens said. "We're going into Week 8 and we've stayed pretty healthy up front."
Air Blazers: It's no secret Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet prefers a punishing ground game to a high-flying pass attack, and this season is no different.
Heading into last Saturday's game against Willowbrook, the Blazers averaged 228 rushing yards against only 24 passing yards per game. Addison Trail, however, opened up the passing game a bit in its 25-0 West Suburban Gold win over the Warriors.
Sophomore quarterback Anthony Catanese, who missed the season's first two games with a mild knee injury, completed 7 of 10 passes for 90 yards and an 18-yard touchdown pass to Nick Wisniewski. The one-game effort nearly doubled Catanese's passing yards for the season.
Parpet said Catanese, who last season helped engineer a 9-0 Blazers record at the freshman level, is maturing every week. That's allowing Parpet to open up the playbook a little more for Catanese, who's rushed for 375 yards and 4 touchdowns.
"That's a phase of the game we have to get better at when we're competing against good teams," Parpet said of the passing game. "Anthony's a sophomore, and he'll get better. He's hung in there real well."
The Blazers (3-4, 3-1) enter this weekend as an underdog at home against Downers Grove South (5-2, 4-0). An Addison Trail upset would forge a tie atop the Gold standings and keep the Blazers alive in the playoff hunt.
Turf times: Mounds of moving dirt mean one thing in District 86. Artificial turf is coming to the Hinsdale high schools.
Work is well under way on the installation of artificial practice fields at Hinsdale Central and South. Installation on the stadium fields will begin in the summer.
"It's really quite a project," said Hinsdale South football coach Alex Bitto. "It'll be welcome. Our fields have been really beat up this year."
Grass fields everywhere have taken a beating this season because of ill-timed rain hitting the area on, or just before, game days. It's a problem schools with artificial-surface fields don't have, a club the Hinsdales will join next season.
Judging by Hinsdale South's schedule next season, it's becoming less of an exclusive club. Eight of the Hornets' games in 2010 - including games at Addison Trail, Hinsdale Central and Willowbrook - will be on turf.
A cutback, and see you later: Playing on turf or grass doesn't make much difference to Montini's Nick Campanella, a powerful high-stepper with great cutback ability who excels on both surfaces.
Broncos coach Chris Andriano called the Broncos' 41-10 win over Aurora Central Catholic "kind of a game of big plays," and none was bigger than Campanella's 97-yard touchdown run.
"Basically it was just a dive," Andriano said. "He hit a seam, got a break to the outside, cut back and he was gone. Picked up a couple of decent downfield blocks from guys just hustling. As soon as he got 10, 15 yards downfield you knew he was gone."
Campanella's run set a Montini record for longest touchdown run. The prior mark was 91 yards by Mike Russo in the 1996 Class 3A playoffs, a second-round loss to Wilmington.