Football previews: Lake County, playoff quarterfinals

CLASS 7A

No. 4 Lake Zurich (10-1) at No. 1 Rockford Boylan (11-0)

When: 1 p.m. Saturday

Last week: In the second round, Lake Zurich d. No. 5 Rolling Meadows 10-7; Rockford Boylan d. No. 9 Rockford Guilford 23-6.

Advancement: Winner moves to the semifinals to play the winner of Saturday night's quarterfinal between No. 7 Carmel and No. 6 De La Salle.

Outlook: Well, this looks familiar. Kind of. Just like last year, Lake Zurich and Boylan are again meeting up in the playoffs. And again in the quarterfinals. The only difference is that this time, Lake Zurich doesn't get to host. The Bears, who won last year's game 24-20 en route to qualifying for the Class 7A state championship game, must make the long trek out to Rockford and face Boylan on its home turf. "We're glad to be at home this time," Rockford Boylan coach Dan Appino said. "I would think that our kids remember that game. It put a sour taste in their mouths because (Lake Zurich) really took it to us, especially in the first half. That game taught us a valuable lesson about the importance of starting fast."

The Bears are going to be ready for Boylan's best shot -- not just because it's the quarterfinals, but because it's Boylan. "We've heard that they've been talking all year about wanting another shot at us," Lake Zurich running back Jon Janus said. "Everyone on our end is as pumped as can be. We realize how bad Boylan wants to beat us."

Appino couldn't be more impressed with Lake Zurich's speed, which has been the key to its stingy, suffocating defense. "That defense of theirs is really phenomenal," Appino said. "They've got more 6-foot, 200 pound guys who can run fast and hit hard then any school I've seen this season. But they also execute really well on offense and their backs always seem to get yardage after the first hit. They're the whole package and we're really going to have to play our 'A' game."

Interestingly, Boylan's A-game won't include any A-list stars. Appino says that his team wins games by committee, rather than on the back of one particular player. "We don't have a star. We're just a blue-collar, working type of team," Appino said. "We've got a lot of people doing their jobs. We use multiple people for a single position." Even the Titans' quarterback situation illustrates that. Some teams have been known to use the unorthodox practice of switching quarterbacks for every series. Boylan actually switches quarterbacks for every play. That's right, every play. Senior Jake Simonovich is the better thrower (619 passing yards) and junior Zach Lane is the better runner (376 rushing yards and a team-leading 8 rushing touchdowns). "When we were practicing in the summer, it was literally neck-and-neck with the two of them," Appino said. "So the way we would practice would be just alternating them. It worked well and we became very efficient at getting our plays in, so we just stuck with it."

The Titans also feature multiple contributors at running back, including Mike Rush (team-leading 887 rushing yards), Dan Dansdill (608 yards) and Will Sahlstrom (524 yards). "By using a rotation, we've been able to keep guys fresh and relatively injury free," Appino said.

The Bears and head coach Bryan Stortz wish they could say the same. Lake Zurich will enter this game with two of their top running backs -- Jon Janus and Adam Simpson -- banged up. Simpson had one of his best games of the season last week (99 rushing yards and a touchdown, plus an average of 40.6 yards per punt), but is nursing a sore groin. He was confident, however, that his performance in the quarterfinals shouldn't be compromised. Simpson, who has been looking good as he completes his therapy, has 619 rushing yards on the season. Janus (team-leading 766 yards) left the Rolling Meadows game with a shoulder injury and headed to the hospital immediately after the game. His availability will be limited.

New shoulder pads and plenty of padding arrived at Lake Zurich this week. They'll go under Janus' uniform. Lake Zurich's star running back will play against Boylan, but will be mindful of the shoulder injury that knocked him out of the Rolling Meadows game. Doctors diagnosed it as a torn clavical, or torn collarbone. "It's basically the muscle fibers that keep the joints and the collar bone connected. That's what tore. Nothing's broken, though," Janus said. "It's sore, but this is one game I'm not going to miss -- broken bones or torn anything. I want to play in this game." Playing time might be limited for Janus offensively, and he expects to see no action on the defensive side of the ball, where he also starts at linebacker.

The good news for Lake Zurich is that, just like Boylan, the offense is well-rounded. Dan Kalcsics and Andrew Maloney are also dangerous backs, who would help keep the offense humming in the event that Janus or Simpson must take a few plays off. And quarterback Bobby DeLeo, who quietly passed for 156 yards on 8-of-13 attempts last week, can hurt defenses by either running or throwing the ball.

Enough about the offenses. This game will likely be a showcase of defensive prowess. Lake Zurich, led by linebackers Tyler LaFontaine and Brent Marks and lineman John Brewer, is allowing just 7 points per game and has pitched three shutouts. Boylan, led by lineman Dansdill and linebacker Patrick Appino, the coach's son, has given up a stunning 3.9 points per game with four shutouts.

The kicking game could also be big on both sides. Simpson had a great game punting the ball against Rolling Meadows and kicker Kevin Johnson, who kicked the Bears all the way to the state championship game last year, is ready for action after foregoing much of the kicking this season due to injury. He kicked a 27-yard field goal last week. Meanwhile, Appino says that his two kickers -- place kicker Derek Dimke and punter Austin Moorman -- are likely the two best kickers in school history. Moorman has 11 touchbacks and is averaging 37 yards per punt, while Dimke has hit 3-of-4 field goals with a long of 43 yards. He hit a 40-yarder last week. He also has 27 touchbacks on kickoffs.

-- Patricia Babcock McGraw

CLASS 7A

No. 7 Carmel (9-2) at No. 6 De La Salle (9-2)

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

Last week: Carmel d. Glenbrook North 28-22 (OT); De La Salle d. Cary-Grove 27-26 (OT)

Advancement: Winner will face winner of Saturday's game between No. 1 Boylan and No. 4 Lake Zurich

Outlook: Carmel is making its first state quarterfinal appearance since 2003, when the Corsairs won it all in Class 6A. Quarterback David Venegoni, who's up to 977 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, twisted his ankle on the Corsairs' first drive of the game against Glenbrook North, missed a couple of series, then returned. "He's OK," coach Andy Bitto said. "(His ankle) was treated this week. He's much better now than he was, so we should be all right." Geoffrey Fields (762 rushing yards) scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime. It was his second TD of the night, giving him 10 on the season. Carmel's ground game also gets help from Mike Taylor (505 rushing yards) and Matt Berg (332 rushing yards). Safeties Ryan Williams and Chris Salvi have 108 and 93 tackles, respectively. Fellow safety Jake Sinkovec had his first interception of the season against Glenbrook North.

De La Salle, which won the Chicago Catholic White, has opened the playoffs with wins over Fox Valley Conference members Cary-Grove and McHenry. The Meteors' 36-0 shutout of McHenry was their third of the season. "Defensively, they're big, tough -- (typical) Catholic League," Bitto said. "They're kind of smash-mouth, 5-2 (scheme)." On offense, De La Salle boasts running back Cordero Gaston, wide receiver/quarterback/kickoff returner Elliott Brown and quarterback Tom Lally. Gaston scored the game-winning touchdown, from 7 yards out, in OT against Cary-Grove. "He's a good player, makes a lot of people miss," Bitto said. "He's an I-formation, cutback guy." Brown had 8 catches and also rushed 6 times for 28 yards. "They have two pretty explosive guys on offense (Gaston and Brown)," Bitto said. Lally, meanwhile, is good too. He completed 14 of 16 passes for 184 yards and 2 TDs against C-G.

Both Carmel and De La Salle won their second-round games by overcoming second-half deficits and prevailing in overtime. Carmel trailed Glenbrook North 16-7 in the third quarter. De La Salle wiped out a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter against C-G. "Those kind of wins can catapult you into good things," Bitto said. "We're hoping to take that momentum into (Saturday night). But (De La Salle) is also coming off a come-from-behind win so they're going to have the same kind of energy."

Carmel and De La Salle have not played each other since 1999, when Carmel won 14-13 in Mundelein. The Corsairs last visited De La Salle in 1998, losing 28-0.

-- Joe Aguilar