Scouting Maine South @ Leyden
Maine South (10-0) at Leyden (8-2)
When: 5 p.m. Saturday at West Campus, Northlake
Last week: Maine South d. No. 16 Oak Park-River Forest 28-14; Leyden d. No. 8 Palatine 25-7
Playoff history: Defending 8A state champion Maine South has won three titles, finished second three times and is making its 18th straight trip. Leyden won the 1977 5A title under Jack Leese and reached the second round in 1974 and in 1989 under George Duffey.
Outlook: Leyden's first home playoff game in 11 years is quite an event as Maine South comes in on a 24-game winning streak with one of the state's most dangerous weapons in Indiana-bound RB Matt Perez and another solid QB in senior Tyler Benz. "The thing about them is they do everything right," said Leyden coach Tom Cerasani. "They play mistake-free football and they're very fundamentally sound and obviously well-coached." But Leyden has won seven in a row with its own still semi-secret weapon to a lot of outsiders in record-setting RB Angel Maldonado (2,241 yards, 25 TDs), who hopes to keep Perez and Benz on the field as much as possible on defense. "We're going to do what we do and there's no secret in what we do," Cerasani said. "Obviously we think we can move the ball on anybody. It will be a challenge because they're good but we feel our running attack and passing game can move the ball on anybody." Senior QB David Rose (988 yards, 7 TDs) and WR Adam Bielech (32 catches, 518 yards, 4 TDs) keep defenses honest but the Hawks' defense came through last week behind SS Ronnie Muck and sophomore LB Luke Lenti, the nephew of Mt. Carmel coach Frank Lenti who made his first varsity start. Leyden has used four- and three-man defensive fronts but feels comfortable doing the latter with big, talented ends Jeff Cascella and Dan Kiebler. "They're still formidable to block and it gives us some leeway to do things other teams can't do," Cerasani said. "They're going to have to be huge on Saturday."
Advancement: Leyden would host No. 13 Proviso West (6-4) or visit No. 5 Glenbrook South (8-2) and Maine South would host the winner in the quarterfinals.