Northwest football notes: Wheeling, Hoffman hanging tough

Wheeling and Hoffman Estates are having the kinds of football seasons that can become tough on coaches.

Wheeling's Dave Dunbar and Hoffman's Bill Helzer haven't found that to be the case despite their struggles. And they would like nothing better than to turn their fortunes around in rivalry matchups tonight.

Wheeling (1-6) has a chance to put a crimp in the playoff plans of visiting Buffalo Grove (4-3) and Hoffman Estates (0-7) looks to end a nine-year stranglehold on the town's Mayor's Cup trophy at Conant (2-5).

With senior linebacker Jermaine Moore leading the way, Hoffman limited 7-0 Barrington to its fewest points of the year in a 17-6 loss.

"Our kids didn't quit," Helzer said. "It's just been a matter of execution. We have to finish drives and get points.

"It's just frustrating that it's Week 8 and we just now got going with fewer turnovers and penalties. We have two weeks to try to get one and get the big 500-pound gorilla (23-game losing streak) off our back."

Wheeling has lost six in a row after a season-opening win against Maine West. But Dunbar hasn't seen a drop-off in effort.

"The whole year guys have really been really great at staying focused day-in and day-out," Dunbar said, "and preparing no matter who we're playing."

And opponents know they have a lot of defensive preparation to do for junior quarterback Tyler Brady, who had 370 yards of total offense and threw for 3 touchdowns last week.

"They have horses offensively," said BG coach Jim Farrell.

"Tyler played really well (last week)," Dunbar said. "Once he got rolling he was able to make all the reads and he really played well."

And even though Wheeling lost running back Eddie Scanlon for the rest of the season with mono, Dunbar is confident juniors Jeremy Fredericks and Leo Giordiano can handle the running game.

"They run hard and work hard and we aren't afraid to put the ball in their hands," Dunbar said.

Throwback battle: Barrington and Fremd will have a bit of an old-school feel when they meet tonight in Palatine.

"Mike (Fremd coach Donatucci) and I joked that people will feel the game is slow," said Barrington coach Joe Sanchez. "We both huddle, they put their quarterback (Sam Beutler) mostly under center. We mirror each other in a lot of ways this year."

Except for the records, where Barrington has rebounded from a 3-6 season to improve to 7-0 and 3-4 Fremd is fighting to extend its streak of playoff appearances to 16.

Barrington also gets junior running back Chase Murdock back from a foot injury, but the last two weeks saw quarterback Matt LeMire and running back Nico Martinez step up offensively.

"Chase looked very good and we're excited about having him back," Sanchez said. "But we also proved to people and ourselves that we have a lot of other people who can do some things as well."

"Big Z" delivers again for Saxons: Conant coach Bill Modelski thought junior quarterback Matt Cullen played his best game last week. What made it even better was Cullen seemed to be carrying around Schaumburg nose tackle Joe Zolper all night.

Zolper continued to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks with 5½ sacks.

"The thing that's become more impressive is people know he's coming now and they still can't stop him," said Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling.

"That kid's unbelievable, he's a special kid," Modelski said. "I don't know if I've seen anyone quite like him.

"With his combination of speed and tenacity and agility and his motor, he's a unique kid."

Damisch responds to adversity: Making a switch to center and playing almost every snap was the least of Buffalo Grove senior Joe Damisch's concerns last week.

Damisch's dad died of brain cancer two days before BG's game with Rolling Meadows. Damisch finished with 10 tackles in a 16-13 victory.

"He was all over the place and it was great," said BG coach Jim Farrell. "The kid has a memory of that night that will mean something forever."

Damisch, whose brother Marc is an offensive lineman at Indiana, made the move to center with Farrell looking for better shotgun snaps.

It's possible the snaps soon could be going to Mike Garrity again. Garrity has missed the last four games after suffering a concussion against Conant but passed a baseline test and is now going through the District 214 return to play protocol.

"It looks more favorable and is better news than in weeks past," Farrell said. "We were at that point where you thought maybe he was done for the remainder of the season.

"I think there will be a chance we'll get him back and he'll be able to return for the rest of the season."

But Farrell also knows Garrity will need time to get back up to speed.

"Four weeks off at quarterback isn't easy to jump back into and Richie (Zirngibl) has been doing a nice job for us," Farrell said. "We feel we're in capable hands at the quarterback spot."

Short rebound time for Palatine: Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly said there were some "wounded egos" that needed to be heal after last week's 17-16 loss to cross-town rival Fremd.

But the Pirates can't waste time getting over that if they want to make a fourth straight playoff appearance. They finish with 5-2 Schaumburg and undefeated Barrington.

"We've lost two games (Lake Forest and Fremd) and in the last minute of the game and we have to finish teams," Donnelly said. "That's been our problem even against Prospect.

"A lot of things were emotionally draining but they seem to be determined to get one of the next two. We can't beat ourselves anymore."

Senior quarterback Cody Bobbit saw more time in the secondary last week and made some key stops against Fremd.

"Cody playing defense now makes a big difference," Donnelly said. "He'll have to do the same thing (tonight)."

Hersey's drive for five: Hersey coach Dragan Teonic continued to see signs of what needs to happen to get things turned around last week.

"We're just not quite there yet but they're battling," Teonic said of an early 21-point deficit turning into a 28-13 loss to Elk Grove. "They won't back down.

"They keep fighting back and late in the fourth quarter they're still taking shots at the end zone."

And even though the Huskies have lost three in a row to fall to 3-4, they're still playing meaningful late-season games with a shot to make the playoffs.

Giving them an even better shot was the long-awaited return of senior lineman Tom Sutrinaitis from injury last week.

"For a kid who hadn't played all year he played pretty well," Teonic said. "He played tougher and better than I thought he would.

"He's a great addition because we didn't even know what to expect. He came through and definitely makes us better.

"Our offensive line is really starting to play some pretty decent football right now and I'm so excited about that."

Broncos Care coat and toy drive: Barrington's "Broncos Care" will hold its annual coat and toy drive before the Oct. 22 regular-season home finale with Palatine. Freshman players will be collecting donated items outside of the stadium doors and any winter clothing items will be accepted.

All proceeds will go to the Barrington Giving Day.

Pearlman farewell: Prospect will honor Brent Pearlman, who is stepping down at the end of his 12th year in charge, at next Friday's regular-season home finale with Buffalo Grove.

There will be a brief on-field ceremony between the sophomore and varsity games. Former players and coaches and members of the community are invited to a postgame celebration in the Jean Walker Field House.