Scouting Neuqua Valley at St. Charles North

Neuqua Valley (1-1) at St. Charles North (1-1)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today

Last year: St. Charles North 31, Neuqua Valley 5.

Last week: Neuqua Valley 20, Naperville Central 18; St. Charles North 62, McHenry 49.

Outlook: St. Charles North's 100-yard relay with McHenry and Neuqua's cliffhanger fall nearly on opposite ends of the winning-ugly spectrum. Neuqua's Trent Snyder ran for 245 yards and 2 touchdowns last week, but his late fumble allowed Naperville Central to drive 69 yards - only to miss a 29-yard would-be winning field goal with 10 seconds left. In this Upstate Eight Conference crossover, Neuqua coach Bryan Wells sees a physical St. Charles North offense that, along with quarterback Matt Schiltz's record-setting 344 yards and 6 touchdown passes, features hard-running Dirk Schmitt and Ben Hodges. While Josh Mikes caught 4 touchdown passes (and contributed to 2 more by blocking downfield), Wells seemed more concerned with the ground game. Makes sense when Naperville North ran for 483 yards in Week 1. Neuqua's strength should be on defense with nine starters back including linebacker T.J. Rhattigan, nose tackle Leif Munson, defensive end Mike Ippolito, safety Mike Festa and cornerbacks Alex Malandro and Ryan McDermott, Wells' all-time favorites at that spot. North Stars coach Mark Gould hopes solid trap blocking by C.J. Van Petten, Kyle Breith, Pat Smith, Dan Cassidy and Alex Pohl can make Neuqua's aggressiveness backfire. The return of defensive tackle Shawn Meaney (concussion) helps buffer linebacker Sam Scorby from the likes of Neuqua tackle Jordan Young (6-3, 305). "We hope to play better defense," Gould said.

Next week: East Aurora (0-2) at Neuqua Valley, Sept. 17; Streamwood (1-1) at St. Charles North, Sept. 17.