Naperville Central will focus on Marist's Perish

For all the factors in Naperville Central's football game Saturday at Marist, it's tough not to focus on the quarterbacks.

Two of the best in the state square off in a Class 8A second-round showdown in Chicago. Naperville Central's Nick Linne, offensive player of the year in the DuPage Valley Conference, faces Marist's Mike Perish, who's committed to Western Michigan.

"It's two pretty even teams with two pretty good quarterbacks," said Redhawks coach Mike Stine. "Both teams really like to throw it, but you can't be one-dimensional in the playoffs. We've got to be able to run the ball."

That message rang true in Naperville Central's first-round win over Lockport. The fifth-seeded Redhawks (8-2) rushed for a season-high 207 yards led by Linne's 118 yards and running back Ben Murphy's 89 yards.

Breaking out a few new wrinkles in the offense, Naperville Central committed to the run in a rare shift from the Redhawks' reliance on Linne's arm. Even with the emphasis on the run, though, Linne still threw 4 touchdown passes including 3 to tight end Cam Brate.

"We thought we'd be able to catch (Lockport) off guard with our running game, but we want to be able to run and pass it," Stine said.

Defensively for the Redhawks, it's all about slowing Perish. He had a career day for No. 4 Marist (8-2) in a 42-14 win over Schaumburg, throwing for 355 yards and 4 touchdowns. Receiver Dan Piko caught 10 passes for 236 yards.

After facing run-dominant Lockport, Naperville Central defensive lineman Alex Schaefer, linebacker Will Sayer and defensive backs Alex Grask and Paul Wirtz, who's back from a bout with mononucleosis, need to contain Perish's high-flying passing game.

Stine doesn't expect to stop Perish. Slowing him will have to suffice.

"We know they're going to score some points," Stine said. "Our job is to make them work as hard as possible for those points."