Scouting Prospect @ Carmel

Class 7A

No. 10 Prospect (7-2) at No. 7 Carmel (7-2)

When: 7 p.m., Friday

Last week: Prospect lost to Rolling Meadows, 46-38; Carmel def. Nazareth, 35-7.

Playoff experience: Prospect is making its fifth straight playoffs appearance and ninth in the last 10 years. The last decade has been very good to the Knights. They've won three state titles since 2000 (2001, 2002, 2005). Prospect advanced to the Class 7A semifinals in 2006 but lost to eventual state runner-up Lake Zurich, 17-3. Since then, the Knights have not advanced past the first round. Carmel has qualified for the playoffs for the 10th straight season, dating back to 2000. In 2003, the Corsairs won the Class 6A state championship. Carmel's best showing since then was a run to the Class 7A semifinals in 2007, where they lost to eventual state champion Lake Zurich, 17-7. Last year, Carmel lost in the Class 7A quarterfinals to eventual state runner-up Geneva, 35-21.

Skinny: Although it's been four years since Prospect won its last state title, Carmel coach Andy Bitto considers the program one of the best in the state, full of pride and passion. "When we were watching the film, you could tell how much pride this team has," said Bitto, whose team has never played Prospect before. "They've got only 45 kids, but everyone is so into it. They play hard and even kids on the sideline are jumping around and excited. We made sure our kids saw that because this is a team that will play you hard." - The same can be said about the Corsairs, a proud program that won a state title in 2003 and has been a contender in its class ever since. Carmel just capped off a run through the rugged East Suburban Catholic Conference that yielded a share of the league title with perennial power Joliet Catholic. "I've been pretty pleased with the way we've been playing," Bitto said. "Our passing game has been doing pretty well and, defensively, we've been really good for the last month or so. I bet our first-string defense is giving up only about 10 points per game." - Overall, Carmel is giving up only 14.5 points per game but has yielded not more than 8 points in its last three games. Bitto says that after some early injuries the defense is back at full strength and led by linebacker Luke Venegoni, safety Patrick Cox and linemen Steven Lester and Mike Cohen (7 sacks). - Meanwhile, the Carmel offense, averaging 29.7 points per game, is centered around the elusive running of sophomore fullback Jordan Kos, who has rolled up 829 yards and 9 touchdowns on 138 carries. Quarterback Brian Serio has rushed out of the option for 304 yards and has passed for 634 yards and 7 touchdowns. The Corsairs' top receiver, Matt Felicelli, has rolled up 567 yards and 9 touchdowns on just 17 receptions. - Last week, Prospect was involved in a shootout with Rolling Meadows. The two teams combined for 971 yards of offense, almost equally divided. Prospect rolled up 505 yards in which it showed balance with both its passing and running game. Quarterback Miles Osei completed 17-of-23 passes for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns. His favorite target was John Coen, who hauled in 6 passes for 127 yards. The Knights also got 146 rushing yards (on 17 carries) from running back Peter Bonahoom. "They're a big-play team," Bitto said of Prospect. "We need to be able to move the ball and we need to establish field position to make them go the distance. They're a spread team and they have a really good, accurate quarterback and they can score a lot of points if you let them." - Carmel will be playing without senior running back Chris Nemeth, who was making his way back into the lineup after a knee injury but broke his collarbone last week against Nazareth.