CL South, Glenbrook North have contrasting styles
Polar opposite offensive styles will be on display when No. 14 Glenbrook North (6-3) visits No. 3 Crystal Lake South (8-1) in a Class 7A playoff opener at Ken Bruhn Field today at 7 p.m.
The Spartan offense can be tricky, whereas the Gators pull no punches while punching defenses in the mouth.
Glenbrook North installed a shotgun spread offense last year and used it for the first four weeks of this season until persistent Friday rains forced quarterback Zach Hilgendorf under center for most of the last 6 games.
"We would like to run spread shotgun, but due to last six weeks of Mother Nature we've run a lot of different offenses," sixth-year coach Bob Pieper said.
The Gators are a straight-ahead running team that utilizes junior quarterback Drew Ormseth's live arm when the opportunity presents itself. It's a scheme better suited to wet conditions, and Friday's forecast calls for more rain and wind.
"Why wouldn't it rain? It's the weekend, right?" Gators coach Jim Stuglis said with a laugh. "It's going to be sloppy again, but that's OK. We seem to play better in the mud for some reason. I think our kids kind of like it. With the type of football we play it doesn't affect us. This is what we've got and we're coming at you. I think it's easy to prepare for but preparing for it and stopping it are two different things."
Making their area-best ninth straight playoff appearance, the Gators are coming off a 10-3 2008 season in which they reached the semifinals in Class 7A. They'll attack with senior running back Kameron Scott (74 carries, 494 yards, 11 TDs), junior Bolek Mikulec (66-355-5) and senior fullback J.D. Barchard (51-291-3). Ormseth has completed 47-of-100 passes for 738 yards and 12 touchdowns and has been intercepted only 4 times.
Hilgendorf leads a Glenbrook North offense that features seven sophomores or juniors. He has completed 64-of-136 passes (47 percent) and has thrown 7 touchdowns. His top receivers are junior Armin Batang (21 rec., 235 yards, 6 TDs) and sophomore Chad Bruce (10-162-2).
The CL South defense is led by Barchard (6-2, 228) at linebacker and nose guard Sam McCole (6-3, 280). Stuglis said junior end Fahn Cooper (6-6, 270) is nearly 100 percent after being slowed the past two weeks by a high ankle sprain. The Gators have shut out four opponents using the 3-3-5 scheme first instituted last season.
The Spartans have an experienced defense that holds opponents to 9 points a game. Nine starters are seniors. Middle linebacker Miles Nagel (5-11, 185) is the leading tackler and ends Matt Chandler (5-11, 185, 40 tackles) and Alex Elsey (6-2, 190, 38 tackles) each have 41/2 sacks.
"They're playing pretty good defense so that concerns us," Stuglis said. "We want to try to put as many points on the board as possible. We're hoping we can started very quickly and have them panic so we can do some different things on offense. It's going to be a straight-ahead game for both of us. I think we have the advantage, but you never know."
The winner will face the winner of No. 11 Lake Zurich (6-3) at No. 6 Rolling Meadows (7-2), which will be played Saturday at 7 p.m.