Lots of lessons learned through first 2 weeks

Things I've learned during the first two weeks of the 2007 high school football season:

• If St. Charles East and St. Charles North want to contend for the Upstate Eight Conference championship and qualify for postseason play, both will need to find a sustained rushing attack.

While the Saints gave state-ranked Lincoln-Way East a battle during last week's 20-7 loss to the Griffins (who have now won 24 consecutive regular-season games) and defeated Batavia 30-7 in Week 1, their ground game hasn't yielded many move-the-chain type of gains.

In fact, take away Wes Allen's 78-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown run against the Griffins and the Saints were left with zero yards rushing.

"We have to make sure offensively that we get the running game going," said Saints coach Ted Monken. "If you can't run the ball, you're not going to win too many games."

• Same rule applies for St. Charles North.

Much like St. Charles East, the North Stars' defense has kept the team in its first two games -- a 16-9 loss to Cary-Grove and a 20-13 loss to McHenry.

However, the North Stars will bring a less-than-desirable 52-yard rushing average into Friday night's UEC opener at Streamwood.

• This could be the year that four-time defending champion Neuqua Valley is knocked from its perch atop the Upstate Eight. The Wildcats, who are 0-2 and have been outscored 62-31, open conference play with back-to-back games against up-and-coming contenders Lake Park and Waubonsie Valley.

• For the second straight season, none of the 11 Upstate Eight schools own 2-0 records.

• The team that commits the fewest turnovers usually wins. Remarkably, St. Charles East had a chance to upset Lincoln-Way East last weekend despite committing seven costly turnovers.

"That tells us that down the stretch, if we can shore up some of those mistakes, we're going to be in every game," said Monken.

After fumbling the ball away twice in its opener, Batavia feasted on nine turnovers (6 fumble recoveries, 3 interceptions) during last Friday's 41-0 triumph over West Chicago.

• Batavia football coach Mike Gaspari still might not know how good his team is after splitting its first two games, but he'll likely get a better idea over the next four weeks as the Bulldogs face Glenbard South, Rochelle, Kaneland and Yorkville -- teams with a combined 7-1 mark.

• By some time late Friday night, we'll know more about West Aurora.

For the second consecutive year, Buck Drach has guided West Aurora to a 2-0 mark. Now comes the tough part -- trying to post victories in the always-rugged DuPage Valley Conference. A year ago, the Blackhawks suffered seven straight DVC defeats after beating East Aurora and Elgin.

• By some time late Saturday afternoon or at least by Sept. 22, we'll know much more about Marmion.

The high-flying Cadets, who are averaging 43.5 points in two games, are off to a fast 2-0 start.

Now comes the Suburban Catholic Conference's version of "Murderer's Row" -- back-to-back-to-back contests against 6-time defending state champion Driscoll, defending 5A state runner-up Marian Central Catholic and 2004 4A state champion Montini.

First, a visit to Addison where the host Highlanders are fresh from a 41-0 thrashing of Spring Valley Hall -- which was ranked No. 3 in 3A last week.

"We believe we can play with them," said second-year Cadets coach Dan Thorpe. "We were ahead early in the fourth quarter last year (in a game Marmion eventually lost 15-8).

• Even a 478-yard, 4-touchdown passing performance doesn't guarantee a victory. Just ask Kaneland quarterback Jody Henningson, who completed 40-of-65 pass attempts during last Saturday's 42-38 nonconference loss to Marmion.