Jeff Eder wary of brother's schemes

Little brother Jeff Eder has always supported big brother Jordan Eder's football career.

The younger Eder cheered for his older brother when Jordan was an offensive lineman at Antioch and for four more years when Jordan played on the offensive line at Carthage College.

Jeff was also thrilled for Jordan, a 2010 graduate of Carthage, when he was given the opportunity to be Grant's offensive line coach this season as part of his student-teaching assignment at the school.

But the fact that Jordan also works with the defensive line at Grant doesn't have younger brother Jeff cheering quite as much.

In fact, Jeff Eder is a bit unnerved by the whole idea.

That's because Jeff Eder is the starting quarterback at Lakes, and tonight, he'll be going face-to-face with those defensive linemen Jordan coaches in a North Suburban Conference Prairie Division tilt that has all kinds of meaning behind it.

"It's kind of a weird feeling to know that he's scheming ways to put me on the turf," Jeff Eder, a senior at Lakes, said with a laugh. "We're both very supportive of each other, except for this week. When he first got the job at Grant, we talked about this game, and how exciting that it was a Week 9 game. Now, there's all this stuff on the line, too. It's made this week very interesting for our family."

Jordan Eder's 4-4 Grant Bulldogs need to win the game to get a minimum fifth win to be eligible for playoff consideration on points.

Jeff Eder's 6-2 Lakes Eagles need a win to sweeten their positioning in the playoffs and to make history. Seven victories in a season would be the most in school history.

"I'd like to see (Jeff) do well in the game," Grant's Jordan Eder said of his younger brother. "But I'd like to see us have the higher score. To win, we're going to have to stop him. Obviously, I don't want to hurt him, but at the same time, this is competitive. I mean, it's football, and we need to win the game to get to the playoffs."

The Eder brothers haven't let their competitiveness get too out of hand.

Jordan still lives under the same roof as Jeff, but there's been no covert activity to steal each other's plays or team secrets.

"We'll talk about the game, it's hard not to," Jeff Eder said. "But we don't go into too much depth about anything because we just can't. We used to share a room. It's probably good that we're on different levels of the house now."

But come game time, the Eder house will not be a house divided.

Both brothers will have plenty of supporters in the stands: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends of the family. But Jordan is certain they'll all likely be sitting on just one side. The Lakes side.

"Well, Jeff is the one who is playing. I'm just coaching, so I understand that," Jordan said. "They're all probably secretly pulling for him because this is kind of his time right now. I mean, on any other night, I'd be rooting for Lakes, too.

"But they all know that on Friday night, I'm all Grant."

So long , Coach:

If Grant doesn't defeat Lakes tonight, Grant's season will come to an end.

And an era at Grant will come to an end as well.

Grant athletic director Mark Barczak is planning to retire at the end of the school year. Grant's last football game this season will also be the last for Barczak on the sidelines. He not only runs the show on game days, but he used to be the head football coach for the Bulldogs for 14 years from 1992 to 2005.

Overall, Barczak has been coaching and teaching at Grant since 1978.

"It's going to be different to not have him around," said Grant coach Kurt Rous, who took over as Barczak's replacement in 2006. "I can always get help from him as an athletic director and as a former coach."

In fact, Barczak used to be Rous's coach.

Rous is a 1988 graduate of Grant and was an offensive lineman and linebacker for the Bulldogs. Back then, Barczak was Grant's offensive line coach and its defensive coordinator.

Hello, goodbye:

Lakes is gaining a Pfeiffer and losing a Pfeiffer this week.

Junior wide receiver-turned-running back Michael Pfeiffer will be back in the backfield this week after having to miss last week's win over Wauconda due to academic ineligibility.

It will be a relief for the Eagles to have him back tonight against Grant. Three weeks ago, the junior ran for 114 yards and a touchdown in helping Lakes fill the gaping holes in its backfield due to the season-ending injuries of two other running backs.

But just as Michael Pfeiffer returns, his older brother John is on the outs.

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound lineman hurt his foot in the Wauconda game and will not play against Grant. Lakes coach Luke Mertens says that while John Pfeiffer's foot is not broken, it is bad enough to force him to the sidelines.

"His foot got stepped on and it ended up being a pretty bad injury," Mertens said. "It's going to be hard to see him on the sidelines. He's not only a team captain, he's our best defensive player. I mean, he's a Division I defensive lineman. He's got every Ivy League school looking at him. People run away from this guy on the field. That's how good he is."

It's good for you:

Antioch welcomes its matchup against Stevenson this week, even though Stevenson is nearly four times its size in enrollment.

"We're not like 'Woe is me' at all. We're not going to bow down" said Antioch coach Brian Glashagel, whose 7-1 Sequoits host the 8-0 Patriots in a North Suburban crossover game tonight. "Yeah, they've got a definite size advantage, but we're not going to think about that. We're thinking about what a great challenge and opportunity this is for us."

Glashagel said that playing a team like Stevenson is exactly the kind of tune-up his team could use before the playoffs.

"When you're going into the playoffs, you want a tough opponent in Week 9," Glashagel said. "If we're going to get to the quarterfinals and semifinals and downstate, we're going to be playing teams that are of the caliber of an 8A team like Stevenson."

Quote of the week:

"When you lose a game in the regular season, a lot of people say that it's a good thing because you got your bad game out of the way before the playoffs and you can learn from it. I'm not one who believes a loss is ever a good thing. I'd rather play poorly and win and learn from that than try to learn from a loss."

Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken on whether his team's 21-0 loss last week to Lake Forest could be a valuable lesson and wake-up call prior to the playoffs. The Cougars entered the game 7-0 and boasted the stingiest defense in the state. They had yet to give up a point all season and were outscoring their opponents 310-0. Tonight, the 7-1 Cougars host North Chicago. A win would give Vernon Hills its fourth North Suburban Conference Prairie Division championship and its second straight.