Scouting Elk Grove @ St. Charles North
Elk Grove (7-3) at St. Charles North (7-3)
When: 7 p.m. today
Last week: Elk Grove d. No. 4 Machesney Park Harlem 28-21; St. Charles North d. No. 5 South Elgin 28-16
Playoff history: Elk Grove is making its first trip since 2004 when it reached the quarterfinals. It also made the semifinals in 1981. St. Charles North is making its eighth straight trip under Mark Gould but last week was only its second victory - it lost to St. Rita 49-7 in the 2006 second round.
Outlook: Elk Grove makes its second road trip of its return to the postseason against a program which has become accustomed to playing beyond the regular season. "We're confident," said first-year Elk Grove coach Brian Doll. "They're a lot like Buffalo Grove in the sense they're solid up front and have good skill kids." The North Stars have traditionally been ground-oriented and rely on the balance of Dirk Schmitt (468 yards, 6 TDs), Ben Hodges (332 yards, 7 TDs) and junior QB Jake Bergren (522 yards, 8 TDs). Bergren won a three-man QB derby that went into Week 3 and has passed for 930 yards with 10 TDs and 1 INT - with 6-4 Jeff Stolzenburg (27 catches, 500 yards, 6 TDs) as his top target. But Josh Mikes (5 catches, 112 yards, 3 TDs in last two weeks) is another threat in his return from back trouble against Elk Grove's blitzing defense led by LB Kyle Pfister. "We have seen that teams can't totally gear up on the run," Gould said. "They've got to respect the three nice receivers that we have." And Elk Grove do-it-all QB-S Nick Meyer (1,807 yards passing, 15 TDs, 2 INTs; 962 rushing, 16 TDs) has been spreading the ball around to Matt McEnery (40 catches, 614 yards, 5 TDs), Joey Bishoff (24 for 450, 2 TDs), Mike Wary (20 for 199, 4 TDs), Eddie Solorio (21 for 364, 2 TD) and Eddie Stahl (9 for 147, 1 TD). "We haven't seen a lot of what they do and they press their corners and play a lot of man," Doll said. "I don't know if they can against us with our four receivers. If they do it will be interesting to see how we handle it and how they handle it." Handling Meyer will also be a big test for LB Spencer Swartz (14 tackles for loss), LB J.J. Weaver (23 tackles for loss, 9 sacks), monster back Conner Mohs (3 INT) and linemen Brian Pedersen and Trevor Lilovich. "We saw (Meyer) last Friday on a real muddy field and it didn't seem to bother him at all," Gould said. "We've got to keep the ball out of (Meyer's) hands."
Advancement: Elk Grove would be at home and St. Charles North would be on the road for a quarterfinal against No. 1 Glenbard West (10-0) or No. 9 Rockton Hononegah (8-2).