Scouting Cook County second-round playoff football games
Class 8A
No. 15 Glenbrook South (8-2) at No. 2 Barrington (9-1)
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Last week: Glenbrook South 27, Minooka 14; Barrington 72, Elgin 13
Previous meeting: Week 3: Barrington 51, Glenbrook South 31
Advancement: Winner plays No. 26 Homewood-Flossmoor/No. 23 Lockport winner
Outlook: These teams have a long-standing rivalry. They have met 18 times since 1996 with Barrington winning 14 of those games, including the last four. Barrington has won two of three meetings in the playoffs. The teams played earlier this season with Barrington rallying from an early 14-0 deficit for the victory. In that game, Titans QB Andrew Bonvechio finished with 355 passing yards. Barrington’s offense continues to stampede on with the Broncos averaging over 42 points per game. Barrington scored the first 8 times it had the ball last week on their way to a 72-point performance. Lamar Osterhues scored four times to bring his season total to 20 touchdowns. He also eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for rushing last week and has 1,026 on the season. Luke Tepas threw one touchdown pass in his limited playing time and now has 20 for the season. He has completed 64% of his passes and thrown for 1,946 yards. Barrington’s defense, led by Charlie Ploder, Jackson Taylor, Brooks Howard, Jeff Kohanzo and Duke Matiyow, have allowed just over 12 points per game in the Broncos’ last six games.
No. 9 Lincoln-Way East (8-2) at No. 25 Palatine (6-4)
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Last week: Lincoln-Way East 45, Stevenson 0; Palatine 29, Whitney Young 8
Previous meeting: 1st meeting
Advancement: Winner plays No. 1 Mt. Carmel / No. 17 Belleville East winner
Outlook: Palatine broke a two-game losing streak in opening round games with their victory last week. Now the Pirates take on a Lincoln-Way East team that has been near the top of the 8A rankings all season. Kole Fager continues to be a key to Palatine’s success. The Princeton-bound Fager is coming off a 3-touchdown performance. He has caught 73 passes for 879 yards with four touchdowns. He also has been a key at the goal line with 16 rushing touchdowns. Will Santiago has thrown for 1,606 yards and 11 touchdowns and ran for another 520 yards. Palatine will face a Lincoln-Way defense that has allowed just 83 points. But most eyes have been on the Griffins offense led by Jonas Williams. The USC commit had missed the previous two games with a foot injury before returning last week and leading Lincoln-Way East to a huge win. Williams threw four touchdown passes last week and was 9-of-19 for 228 yards. He has thrown the most touchdown passes in IHSA history with 135. He also has thrown for 10,977 yards and is just 213 yards short of becoming the all-time passing yards leader. While the Griffins boast Jayden Cawthon and Matt Orban at wide receiver, former Libertyville standout wide receiver Blaise LaVista, who transferred to Lincoln-Way East this past January, is out for the season with a knee injury. Although Palatine has never played the Griffins, Palatine has played a Lincoln-Way team back in 1996, losing that game at the Lincoln-Way school who became Lincoln-Way Central.
No. 13 Lyons (8-2) at No. 4 Fremd (9-1)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Last week: Lyons 24, York 21; Fremd 41, Huntley 14
Previous meeting: 2005 playoffs: Fremd 39, Lyons 10
Advancement: Winner plays No. 5 Warren / #12 Bolingbrook winner
Outlook: Fremd has not advanced to the state quarterfinals since 2009. But this Vikings team believes they can be the team to break that drought. Fremd has won every game this season when quarterback Johnny O’Brien started. And O’Brien will be back at the helm again this week after missing the Week 7 game with Barrington. Last week, O’Brien was solid again. Playing in just one half, he was 12-of-18 passing for 188 yards and three touchdowns. O’Brien can spread it around to a plethora of receivers. They also love to run the ball with Jayden Faulkner, Jason Hardy and freshman Raizo Ruiz. They will run behind an offensive line that is anchored by Northwestern-commit Owe Jakubczek. The Fremd defense was spectacular again last week, forcing four turnovers, including a 98-yard interception return from Marquan Brewster. Lyons has won their last two games over York with last week’s game decided by a last-second field goal. The Lions have now won five straight after losing two in a row to playoff teams Hinsdale Central and Glenbard West. Lyons has been to the quarterfinals in two of the last three seasons and is averaging 31.6 points and allowing 16.8. Their quarterback, Jack Sleighton, is committed to play baseball at the University of Cincinnati while offensive lineman Roman Sosnovyy is committed to play football at Dartmouth.
No. 3 Maine South (9-1) at No. 19 Hinsdale Central (7-3)
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Last week: Maine South 56, Downers Grove South 20; Hinsdale Central 45, South Elgin 14
Previous meeting: 2008 state championship: Maine South 41, Hinsdale Central 21
Advancement: Winner plays No. 6 Lane / No. 11 Oswego winner
Outlook: This is a rematch of the 2008 8A state title game which Maine South won. And the Hawks offense this season could be better than the one that captured that championship. After being shut out in their opener by Lincoln-Way East, Maine South has averaged 45.4 points per game. Most of that comes from the duo of running back Niko Kokosioulis and quarterback Jameson Purcell. Kokosioulis had a monster game last week, running for 5 touchdowns while rushing for 152 yards on 21 carries. Meanwhile Purcell, who is committed to Indiana, piled up 336 passing yards and three touchdowns while completing 22 of 26 passes. The Hawks defense has also been spectacular. Led by Jake Cantal, Nick Hachigan, Dean Arvanitis, Matt Schlenhardt, David Piotrowski, Gavin Smith and Santino Bernabei, Maine South has allowed an average of 10 points in its last 8 games. Hinsdale Central has a common opponent with Maine South in Downers Grove South. Hinsdale built a 28-0 lead and beat Downers Grove South 52-40 in Week 5. Hinsdale is led by junior defensive lineman Tommy Riordan (6-foot-5, 240 pounds) who is a three-star recruit and has 10 D-1 offers. Quarterback Riley Contreras, wide receiver James Skona and running back Patrick Connors, who has a baseball scholarship to Boston College, lead the offense which is averaging 35.5 points per game.
Class 7A
No. 16 Hersey (8-2) at No. 1 Richards (9-1)
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Last week: Hersey 56, Payton 0; Richards 33, Edwardsville 14
Previous meeting: 1st meeting
Advancement: Winner plays No. 25 St. Rita / No. 9 Lincoln-Way Central winner
Outlook: Hersey continues to roll. The Huskies won their eighth in a row and have outscored opponents 420-64 during that span. The Huskies continue to lean heavily on their one-two punch on offense with running back Brandon Jenkins and quarterback Jake Nawrot. Jenkins, a senior, became the all-time career rushing leader at Hersey with 2,625 yards after rushing for 111 yards and touchdowns last week. Nawrot has had record-setting season for Hersey. He has set marks in passing yards (2,598), touchdown passes (36) and completion percentage (72% on 156-of-218). Nawrot did spread the wealth to six different receivers last week, but will be without Tyler Wentink, who was injured in week 9. Hersey’s defense has also played sensationally after the first two weeks. Led by Cheydon Georgakakis, Ben Martin, Peyton Schultz, Johnny Lamonica, Nick Jelaca and Spiro Zarafontis, Hersey has allowed just 64 points in their last 8 games with four shutouts. Richards won the South Suburban Red Conference title and picked up the top seed in 7A. The Bulldogs are averaging 42 points per game. Last week Richards jumped out to a 33-0 lead thanks to quarterback Noah Escobedo, who threw three touchdown passes to Jaiden Henry while Ahmad Buchanan ran for a pair of touchdowns.
Class 6A
No. 14 Rolling Meadows (7-3) vs. No. 11 Fenwick (7-3) at Triton College
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Last week: Rolling Meadows 29, Riverside-Brookfield 23; Fenwick 42, Kennedy 6
Previous meeting: 1st meeting
Advancement: Winner plays No. 2 Burlington Central / No. 7 Harlem winner
Outlook: Rolling Meadows won its first playoff game since 2019 last week, and the Mustangs aren’t satisfied with just that. Meadows used a combination of its strong offense and defensive prowess to advance. The Mustangs got a solid effort on the ground last week. Keeling Murray, Joe Brigham, Josh Rappa and Luke Harvey combined for 192 rushing yards. The quartet each scored a touchdown as well. Brigham also threw well coming off a 170-yard performance. The Rolling Meadows defense came up with one of its best performances of the season holding Riverside-Brookfield, which entered the game averaging 43 points, to nearly half that output. Meadows will need that kind of performance to slow down the Theis brothers from Fenwick. Tommy, who is a senior and a Miami of Ohio commit, along with Jake, who is a junior and has numerous D-1 offers, are both running backs and key to the Friars’ success. Quarterback Jame Williams is also a huge threat for a Fenwick offense that is averaging 37 points per game. Fenwick’s three losses have come to Montini, Mt. Carmel and Carmel.