Scouting Week 2 in the Tri-Cities area

Morgan Park (1-0) at Geneva (1-0)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today

Last year: Did not play.

Last week: Morgan Park 32, Brother Rice 10; Geneva 13, St. Charles East 6.

Outlook: Moving St. Charles East to Week 1 and substituting Morgan Park for last year's opening foe, Dundee-Crown, is a major upgrade for Geneva. Morgan Park is on a nine-year playoff run, all under coach Lexie Spurlock, and has advanced to at least the state quarterfinals four times in the last six seasons. The Mustangs, currently ranked No. 4 in The Associated Press Class 6A poll, are not only huge - Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said the line averages 320 pounds - but have speed and quickness to boot. No wonder Mustangs quarterback DaRon Brown threw 3 touchdown passes on always tough Brother Rice.

Wicinski saw much room for improvement in last week's performance - "But the kids kind of came through when it mattered."

Scoring on a pair of 7-yard touchdown passes from Brandon Beitzel to fullback Connor Quinn and tight end Jack Delabar gave the Vikings a 13-0 lead. While the passing game was hesitant, tailback Jay Graffagna's 90 yards on 18 carries helped hold off the Saints and earned Graffagna offensive player of the game. The defense earned the win with plenty of reps. Player of the game Frank Boenzi and linebacker Bret Shannon each recorded 2 sacks and a fumble recovery.

They'll have to duplicate those strong efforts against Morgan Park and get some gelling offense behind it. "It'll be interesting to see the growth from Weeks 1-2," Wicinski said.

Next week: Simeon (0-1) at Morgan Park, Sept. 11; Yorkville (0-1) at Geneva, Sept. 11.

Huntley (1-0) at Kaneland (1-0)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today

Last year: Did not play.

Last week: Huntley 28, Wauconda 23; Kaneland 35, Burlington Central 0.

Outlook: This should be a ballgame. Huntley returns key people from a second-round playoff team. Kaneland's defense held Burlington Central to 110 yards of offense while Knights quarterback Joe Camiliere racked up midseason-form stats.

"We had a good game," Knights coach Tom Fedderly said, "but we have room for improvement, and these guys have some weapons."

The most dangerous last week looked to be Nick Davila, who scored on 88- and 95-yard kickoff returns. Kick coverage obviously becomes priority No. 1 after Huntley was held to 56 yards of offense. Huntley senior running back Brett Kleckner (6-3, 225) converted two short-field opportunities with touchdown runs of 1 and 18 yards.

On Kaneland's behalf, Camiliere was 13 of 27 passing for a sizable 319 yards and touchdown passes to Brock Dyer, Taylor Andrews and Ryley Bailey. The 185-pound junior quarterback also ran for 2 touchdowns in the Knights' fifth straight win over Burlington Central.

"It looked like he picked up right where he left off last year," Fedderly said.

Defensively, a fourth-down stop by Tyler Callaghan (6-4, 215) translated into an 84-yard Knights scoring drive, while fellow linebacker Derek Bus (6-2, 180) deflected a fourth-down pass, made an interception and added a fumble recovery.

Last year, Kaneland lost to Marmion in Week 2. "If we want to get where we want to be at the end of the season we've got to be 2-0," Fedderly said.

Next week: Woodstock North (0-1) at Huntley, Sept. 11; Kaneland at Rochelle (1-0), Sept. 11.

McHenry (0-1) at St. Charles North (1-0)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today.

Last year: St. Charles North 26, McHenry 12.

Last week: Larkin 15, McHenry 6; St. Charles North 43, Batavia 13.

Outlook: McHenry will face a St. Charles North team that took Batavia's best shot in the first half then exploded with a 27-point third quarter. Jeff Stolzenburg's 95-yard kickoff return to start the second half and linebacker Dom Imbordino's fumble recovery and 40-yard dash sandwiched a 42-yard Mike Ghanem touchdown catch that sent all the momentum the North Stars' way.

"You could feel it on the sideline," coach Mark Gould said.

That sounds like positive news after Larkin's Jalen Williams ran for 171 yards on McHenry's defense, and the Warriors mustered only 16 yards on the ground against Larkin. They did throw for 150 yards. McHenry is paced by defensive tackle Jake Howe (6-3, 260).

Gould said competition for the quarterback spot would continue into the season, and he wasn't fooling. Connor McShane and Jake Bergren split the game, each threw touchdown passes, and both should play against McHenry, Gould said. On the other hand, while returning tailback Jordan Huxtable (ankle) was practicing, at press time his 2009 debut was uncertain.

Offense is less crucial when there's linebackers like Imbordino and J.J. Weaver and lineman Trevor Lilovich creating 9 points on the other side of the ball.

"It typifies an aggressive defense, and speed," Gould said. "That's what we have this year."

Next week: McHenry at Grayslake North (1-0), Sept. 11; St. Charles North at East Aurora (0-1), Sept. 11.

St. Charles East (0-1) at Naperville North (1-0)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today.

Last year: Did not play.

Last week: Geneva 13, St. Charles East 6; Naperville North 28, Neuqua Valley 21 (2 OT).

Outlook: The Saints lost a nonconference game with Batavia - that'll be rekindled with Batavia's 2011 entrance into the Upstate Eight - but gained a classic opponent in Naperville North, stacked at No. 4 in The Associated Press Class 8A poll.

In Naperville North the Saints will face a quarterback, Matt LaCosse, regarded as among the DuPage Valley Conference's best but less than sharp against Neuqua Valley. He went 9 of 23 passing for 65 yards and 2 interceptions. Tailback Idris Hanidu, who led a 162-yard ground game, scored from 10 yards out in double-overtime then the Huskies' defense, led by Nick Lifka and Jack Krejci, made the stop.

St. Charles East coach Mike Fields hopes for a little more offense than the Saints displayed last week, but he had nothing but praise for quarterback Nolan Possley, who faced great adversity. "He just rolls with the punches," Fields said.

Overall, in an emotional game against his former "boss" Geneva coach Rob Wicinski, Fields was "real encouraged" despite a couple breakdowns. He counted the ways: Tyler Nutting's 2 interceptions and 1 by Bryce Barry, safety Matt Payne and the two-way rage of Jon Voytilla at defensive tackle and fullback. St. Charles East shut out Geneva in the second half on each level, from freshman on up.

The Saints' focus will be simple yet crucial things, like fixing alignments and getting up to game speed. Speed shouldn't be a problem playing in Naperville North's first game on a new FieldTurf surface. "We're looking forward to getting on that turf ourself," Fields said.

Next week: Streamwood (0-1) at St. Charles East, Sept. 11; Naperville North at Glenbard North (1-0), Sept. 11.

Batavia (0-1)

at West Chicago (0-1)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today

Last year: Batavia 43, West Chicago 20.

Last week: St. Charles North 43, Batavia 13; Plainfield North 36, West Chicago 7.

Outlook: Returning only fullback Braden Hartmann with any sort of starting experience on the offensive side of the ball, Batavia coach Mike Gaspari and his staff realized the opener would be 48 minutes of real-time evaluation. The prognosis? "Every problem that we had we can fix," said Gaspari, whose sophomore son Noel got a trial-by-fire debut at quarterback including being sacked in his own end zone. Mike Gaspari praised his defense, which kept the Bulldogs in the game through a half they trailed only 9-7. Batavia's touchdown came on Hartmann's 1-yard run set up by sophomore defensive tackle Alex Lyons' interception and 30-yard return. But St. Charles North is a contender for the Upstate Eight title with a defense Gaspari said is as strong as the Bulldogs will see. Only after a 27-point third quarter explosion, which included defensive and special teams touchdowns, did the North Stars put Batavia away.

Batavia's offense gets an assist by the return from injury of offensive guards Andrew Hansen and Jesus Cuevas. The entire unit should benefit not only by a game's experience but by the fact that Plainfield North rushed for 341 yards against West Chicago, which is led by its fourth coach in four seasons, Paul Reinke. What also will help is West Chicago lines up in the same basic defensive fronts as did St. Charles North, Gaspari said.

Batavia middle linebacker Mike Greco and defensive backs Jack Haggerty and Sam Shump all got kudos from Gaspari after last week's effort. Tonight in West Chicago they'll try to stop Wildcats back Brad Wilson, who ran for 80 of West Chicago's 176 total yards.

Next week: Batavia at Glenbard South (0-1), Sept. 11; Wheaton North (1-0) at West Chicago, Sept. 11.

Elgin (0-1) at West Aurora (1-0)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today.

Last year: West Aurora 41, Elgin 26.

Last week: Dundee-Crown 19, Elgin 18 (OT); West Aurora 46, East Aurora 13.

Outlook: Once Upstate Eight Conference mates, West Aurora hopes its DuPage Valley Conference heft - and a serious case of speed - will lift the Blackhawks over Elgin.

It certainly worked last week. West Aurora seemingly scored at will against East Aurora, beating the Tomcats for the ninth straight year.

Tailback Leon Spears returned the opening kickoff 90 yards to score and added touchdown runs of 50 and 23 yards before earning a rest with 104 yards on just 5 carries. He had another touchdown run called back.

"He showed me a couple gears I hadn't seen before on a football field," said veteran coach Buck Drach.

Drach probably won't use four quarterbacks against Elgin - or again in his career - but he'll definitely try to dent Elgin's Cover-2 with 6-foot-3 receiver Aviance King, whose 2 receptions last week went for touchdowns of 13 and 66 yards.

Against these skill guys and offensive linemen such as Matt Gorges and Dave Hulett, who cleaned up last week, Elgin will have to clean up itself after committing 7 turnovers. Yet the Maroons were a point away after defensive back Jordan Dean scored on a 64-yard punt return, a 94-yard interception return and also went in from 10 yards out in overtime.

"The key to Elgin," Drach said, "is just going out and executing again, start getting those finer points down."

Next week: Elgin at Crystal Lake Central (0-1), Sept. 11; Naperville Central (1-0) at West Aurora, Sept. 11.

Mendota (1-0) at Aurora Christian (1-0)

Game time: 7:15 p.m. today.

Last year: Aurora Christian 10, Mendota 6.

Last week: Mendota 40, Walther Lutheran 13; Aurora Christian 47, DuSable 0.

Outlook: Against the team ranked No. 7 in Class 4A, Aurora Christian cannot expect results similar to its landmark opening win.

The Eagles, sacking DuSable 10 times and 4.5 by defensive tackle Dean Griffing (6-2, 188), held DuSable to minus-64 total yards, first on the IHSA record books. DuSable's minus-90 yards rushing due to all those sacks ranks fourth, right near the Eagles' No. 2 mark (minus-96 yards vs. Luther North, 2005).

"That's getting after it defensively," coach Don Beebe understated.

Given short fields repeatedly due to the work of players like Griffing, Dylan Smith, Drew Hazlett, Mitch Holtz and Nate Jensen, Aurora Christian capitalized, its offense led for the first time by sophomore quarterback Grayson Roberts, who threw 3 touchdown passes. Donald Patterson added 2 TDs and 88 yards rushing.

It'll definitely be harder against Mendota, which lines up 285 and 260 pounders on its offensive line and offers speed-back Curtis Knapp, part of an all-state 400-meter relay last spring. Ten seniors start on offense for Mendota, nine on defense.

So Aurora Christian looks to do three difficult things - outthink and out-leverage Mendota defensively, and out-athlete them all over.

"I'm glad we're at home - and glad we're on turf," Beebe said.

Next week: Mendota at Amundsen (1-0), Sept. 12; Aurora Christian at Chicago Christian (0-1), Sept. 11.

Mundelein (0-1) at Marmion (0-1)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today.

Last year: Did not play.

Last week: Buffalo Grove 26, Mundelein 0; South Elgin 24, Marmion 14.

Outlook: High school teams will beat themselves if given the chance, Marmion coach Dan Thorpe stated. His Cadets and Mundelein both proved it last week.

Marmion squandered a 14-0 lead over South Elgin, losing to the Storm for the first time in four meetings on the combination of tailback Matt Pircon's separated shoulder (out a minimum of two weeks) and 3 lost fumbles improved South Elgin turned into points.

Mundelein, which has been shut out six times in its last 10 games, got a punt blocked then fumbled on successive series on the way to a 20-0 halftime deficit.

As Thorpe also stated, the focus is to "go hard on the next opportunity."

There's much reason for optimism. Bobby Winkel and T.J. Lally combined for 193 of the team's 264 yards rushing, and a third back, Adam Andras, scored Marmion's first touchdown of the year on a 15-yard run.

When a South Elgin player landed on Pircon after the senior had gained 29 yards on 4 carries, the Storm could focus on stopping the fullback rather than the flank.

Countering that will be a key, and stretching the field via the pass. Senior Will Sterne completed 11 of 20 passes for 30 yards. "He played well," Thorpe said.

Mundelein coach Bob Stone - formerly of West Chicago and Joliet Catholic - lets loose fullback Tyler Adams and running backs Mike O'Donoghue and Brandon Aranda.

"We can't let them pound the ball on us," said Thorpe, who got defensive end Alex Strong back from injury to bolster 190-pounders Nate Pacer and Nick Knudtson.

"And we've got to get our offense going. We can't just score 14 points."

Next week: Stevenson (1-0) at Mundelein, Sept. 11; Marmion at St. Francis (1-0), Sept. 11.

Aurora Central (0-1) at Marengo (1-0)

Game time: 5 p.m. Saturday.

Last year: Didn't play.

Last week: Genoa-Kingston 44, Aurora Central 0; Marengo 20, Chicago Christian 0.

Outlook: Things can only go up for ACC.

Out-quicked by Genoa-Kingston, the Chargers compiled 88 yards of offense while surrendering 346 and giving up 2 fumbles, 2 interceptions and two faulty long snaps. Of course they all led to points.

Enough said about that. Well, almost.

"We're going back to the drawing board and if we have to make changes we'll make changes," said Chargers coach Mike Curry, always honest and never shy.

"Our defense isn't as bad as that. Most of the points they scored Friday night were scored off of special teams and the offense."

Cornerback Ryan Reichardt did well on contain, Curry said, and linebacker Tyler Scott (6-1, 225) recorded 9 solo tackles and 2 assists. The coach cited the blocking of both tight end Kent Brauweiler and fullback Andrew Scott, and two-way back Alex Schaefer made 7 tackles and led the Chargers with 42 yards on just 6 carries. Junior back Zach Tobin (ankle) is questionable for this week.

Genoa made its own breaks, and got them all. That's what ACC needs against Marengo, and this is a power-running opponent more suited for the physically strong Chargers.

"They come right at you, pop you in the mouth and say 'let's play. They're tough kids," Curry said.

Next week: Aurora Central at Marian Central (1-0), Sept. 11; Winnebago (1-0) at Marengo, Sept. 11.

DeKalb (1-0) at St. Francis (1-0)

Game time: 7 p.m. today

Outlook: DeKalb opened with a 38-12 win over Ottawa, but the Spartans are rolling. Running backs Mark Schmitt and Colin Marshall continue to get reps behind an already experienced line. St. Francis outgained Yorkville 357-110 in a 35-7 Spartans victory.