Playoff chances on the line in 47th Elgin-Larkin game

For the last five years the Town Jug -- the trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Elgin vs. Larkin cross-town football game -- has rested comfortably in the Larkin trophy case on the city's west side.

While winning the Jug and the bragging rights that accompany it remains important to each school (not to mention alumni), this year's meeting between the Upstate Eight Conference rivals holds deeper meaning than procuring hardware for the trophy case.

The winner will play a meaningful game in Week 9 with a chance to reach the playoffs, though both teams will have to hope they have enough playoff points (combined wins by all opponents) to qualify as 5-4 teams.

Saturday's loser -- ouch -- will be eliminated from the playoffs and will be guaranteed a losing season, two tough fates made tougher to accept when inflicted by your archrival.

Larkin (3-4, 3-2) is bidding for its second straight playoff berth and fourth in six years. With a win against Elgin, the Royals could qualify for the postseason in Week 9 by beating Waubonsie Valley (5-2) at Memorial Field.

Elgin (3-4, 1-3) is aiming for its first postseason appearance since 2001. Incidentally, that was the last year the Maroons brought the Town Jug back to the city's east side. If they beat Larkin, the Maroons could become playoff eligible next week with a win at struggling Lake Park (2-5)

"There's a lot riding on this game," Larkin coach Dave Bierman said. "The bottom line is it's do or die for either side. Both sides' seniors, of course, want the bragging rights and the Jug and all that stuff, but by winning Saturday you also extend your chances of making it to postseason play another week.

Said Elgin coach Tom Kim: "It's nice to have something on the line this late in the season. The kids are pretty loose and fired up."

Larkin leads the all-time series 29-17 and has enjoyed a decided edge in the rivalry since the mid-1990s. The Royals have not only beaten Elgin five straight, they've won 12 of the last 14.

The Maroons had their backs to the wall last week but avoided elimination with a 40-6 win over East Aurora. In that game junior quarterback Tom Roth threw for 2 touchdowns and rushed for 2 more.

Roth has developed into a dual threat this season; he has thrown for 1,047 yards and 11 touchdowns against just 2 interceptions and has rushed for 138 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Roth will be a key factor, but the main focus of Larkin's defense will be stopping Elgin senior running back Kenny Williams, who has carried for 6 touchdowns this season and averages 7.4 yards per attempt.

Also a linebacker on defense, Williams (6-0, 215) can be lethal in open space, as demonstrated by his 274 receiving yards on only 9 receptions -- an average of 30.4 yards per catch.

Williams and fellow senior running back Robert Hayes (35 carries, 230 yards, 2 touchdowns) could enjoy big games against a Larkin defense that has allowed an average of 292 yards rushing per outing.

"Roth in his second year as a junior has gotten a lot better throwing the ball," Bierman said, "and whether it's designed with their quarterback or whether he just takes off and runs, he's a threat to run it anytime, too.

"Tom (Kim) does a nice job of moving Kenny around and getting the ball to him, whether he's in the backfield or in the receiving corps. Obviously, we need to know where he's at all the time."

The Larkin defense has given up 281 points in seven games, so being forced to outscore the competition isn't a foreign concept to its offense. Fifty-plus points are always a possibility for this dynamic spread attack directed by quarterback Cam Kinley. The senior has already thrown for 2,275 yards and 28 touchdowns and is approaching multiple records.

Kinley needs 2 touchdown passes to tie Matt Schabert's school record of 30 in a season and 562 passing yards to eclipse Schabert's school record of 2,837, both set in 1999.

If Kinley stays healthy and continues passing at his current pace in the next two games, he will finish among the top 25 in state history in single-season passing yardage and single-season passing touchdowns.

In fact, Kinley needs just 107 passing yards to surpass No. 50 on the single-season passing list, Chris Pesek of Riverside-Brookfield, who threw for 2,382 yards in 2004.

In his two-year career Kinley has thrown for 3,749 yards. With 301 more he'll crack the list of the top 50 career passers in Illinois history. But Schabert's Larkin record of 6,550 yards in a career, set over the course of three seasons from 1997-99, remains safe. Schabert is ninth on Illinois' all-time list.

If Kinley matches his season average of 325 passing yards per game in each of his last two games against Elgin and Waubonsie Valley, he will finish as the 24th most-prolific single-season passer in IHSA history. Schabert's 1999 season currently ranks No. 27 all time.

Kinley has been exceedingly accurate, completing 60 percent of his passes (126 of 210), but he's the first to point out that a lot of credit goes to his corps of sticky-handed senior receivers: Nick Bee (38 catches, 835 yards, 8 TDs); Ryan Shriver (43-734-9) and Jake Kane (28-514-8).

"It's scary how good their receivers are," Kim said. "Anything that's thrown to them they catch. They've got really good hands, they run really good routes and they are awesome after the catch."

Limiting yards after the catch by Larkin receivers is an Elgin point of emphasis.

"They are really good once they catch that 5-yard route," Kim added. "They can turn that 5-yard route into a 25-yard gain. So, we're working on those things, including tackling in the open field."

Both teams have proven they can score points (Elgin 24.6 ppg, Larkin 38.1), but both also allow a lot of points (Elgin 28, Larkin 40.1). So, expect a high-scoring shootout Saturday morning when the Maroons and Royals square off at 11:30 a.m. at Elgin's Memorial Field. The weather forecast is for sunny skies and a high of 62.

Getting the players fired up despite the early game time shouldn't be a problem.

"Coaches on either side of the river shouldn't have to say a word for these players to be ready," Bierman said.

"Mentally, the kids are going to be hyped up for it. Then you add on top of it all the playoff implications and I think they'll be geared up and ready to go. I think it's going to be a good game, whether or not there are a lot of points and it's back and forth."