Scouting: CL South at Geneva
Class 7A semifinal
No. 6 Crystal Lake South (10-2) at No. 1 Geneva (12-0)
When: Today, 7 p.m., at Burgess Field
TV: The game will air on tape delay on Comcast channel CN100 on Saturday at Noon and 4 p.m. and on Nov. 24 at 7 p.m.
Road to the semifinals: Crystal Lake South d. No. 11 St. Charles North 24-21, d. No. 3 Rockford Boylan 28-0, d. No. 2 Cary-Grove 14-7 in overtime; Geneva d. No. 16 Rolling Meadows 27-7, d. No. 9 Hononegah 46-28, d. No. 4 Carmel 35-21
Playoff history: Crystal Lake South is making its second semifinal appearance in four years. The Gators have made the playoffs eight straight seasons under coach Jim Stuglis and 14 times overall. CL South has never reached a state title game. Geneva is making its second straight semifinal appearance and third in five years. The Vikings have made the playoffs five straight seasons under coach Rob Wicinski and 11 times overall. Geneva was the state runner up in Class 3A in 1975.
Advancement: The winner will play No. 1 Glenbard West (12-0) or No. 2 East Saint Louis (11-1) in the Class 7A championship at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Nov. 29 at 4 p.m.
Outlook: If Crystal Lake South is to upset the No. 1 seed, the Gators must find a way to limit Geneva star running back Michael Ratay. The senior's 41 rushing touchdowns are the fifth most in a single season in IHSA history and 5 shy of the record set by Highland's Billy Green in 1989. John Dergo of Morris set the record for most overall touchdowns in 2005 with 52. That Morris team beat Crystal Lake South in a Class 6A semifinal and went on to win the state title. "(Ratay) is legit," CL South coach Jim Stuglis said. "It's not a fluke that he's that good and has that many touchdowns, that's for sure. So we definitely have our work cut out for us. It's going to be one of those situations where we have to be perfect and everything's going to have to fall into place. Hopefully, we can be respectable and maybe something will happen, who knows. But it's a big challenge." Ratay and the Vikings will face CL South's 3-3-5 defense playing at its peak, led by senior defensive lineman Ryan Kuhn. Last week against Cary-Grove he recovered 2 fumbles and pressured the quarterback into an incompletion on fourth down in overtime to win the game. The Gators have limited two undefeated teams (No. 3 Boylan and No. 2 Cary-Grove) to a total of 7 points the last two weeks. Boylan had been averaging 41 points, Cary-Grove 29.2. "They're rarely out of position defensively," Geneva coach Rob Wicinski said. "Some teams get into this defense and stunt their brains out, but that's not the case with them. They have a purpose and their three down linemen are really impressive and know what they want to do." Geneva averages 38.6 points per game behind a mammoth offensive line of Bryce Biel (6-1, 240), Anthony Miller (6-2, 305), John McNeil (6-5, 260), Greg Gregory (6-1, 245) and Anthony Strauss (6-0, 275). They have paved the way for 19 straight 100-yard rushing games by Ratay, not to mention 1,085 passing yards and 10 touchdowns by junior quarterback Brandon Beitzel. In the postseason Beitzel has been exceptional, completing 26-of-39 passes for 375 yards and 4 touchdowns without an interception. The Viking also have a massive defensive front, led by linemen Cory Hofstetter (6-4, 245), Frank Boenzi (6-3, 290), Andrew Clausen (6-5, 270) and middle linebacker Brennan Quinn (6-3, 260). Geneva has a definitive size advantage over the Gators. "There's no way a middle linebacker should be 260 pounds," Stuglis said. "I'm trying to find an IHSA rule somewhere because that's just ridiculous. When they're middle linebacker is bigger than anyone we have on the field, we've got issues. They are just so big. I'm not sure if there's anybody who can match up with them on the lines right now. We're hoping to use what we do best to our advantage. Hopefully, we can control the ball somehow, get underneath the big bodies and create seams. We know we're not going to be able to push them around, so we'll have to create seams and look for that 3- or 4-yard gain. Then defensively we have to make them earn everything. Instead of 7 or 8 yards, we hope to hold them to 3 or 4 yards and stop them once in a while and make them punt it. We can't give up the big play. That's a factor to keep the game close." Colin Masterson leads the Gators with 1,014 yards and 11 touchdowns.