Scouting Naperville North at St. Charles East

St. Charles East (0-1) at Naperville North (1-0)

Game time: 7:30 p.m. today

Last year: Naperville North 28, St. Charles East 7.

Last week: Carmel 56, St. Charles East 7; Naperville North 29, Neuqua Valley 28.

Outlook: Last week Naperville North quarterback Matt LaCosse, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound senior who was recruited as a tight end by the University of Minnesota, ran the ball 36 times for 263 yards and 3 touchdowns. Overall the Huskies ran 77 times for 475 yards and needed them all to win on LaCosse's 25-yard touchdown run with 6:56 left to play. One might be tempted to say St. Charles East hasn't seen that, but the Saints did just last week. Carmel, tied for eighth this week in The Associated Press Class 7A poll (Naperville North is No. 1 in 8A), ran for 545 yards. That's what happens when linebacker Mike Caddy is the sole returnee with significant playing time, with a few downs at cornerback by this year's starting quarterback, Charlie Fisher. "We learned that we're a very young team and Carmel's a very, very good team," said St. Charles East coach Mike Fields. "We've moved past it now." The Saints actually led Carmel 7-6 at 2:30 of the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Mike Brown, who gained 86 yards on 29 carries, and Nick Devor's kick. Then it evolved into a learning experience for sophomore defensive ends Jacob Bruce and Mike Eyre, sophomore fullback-linebacker Joe Hoscheit, punter Kevin Russell averaging a nice 37.4 yards on 7 punts and David Lyon trying to stem the tide on both sides of the line. The experience will help against Naperville North's double-wing, also facing another physical challenge by the likes of Nick Lifka, the Huskies' Nebraska-bound linebacker. "We're not worried so much about our opponents at this juncture," Fields said. "We just worry about getting better as a football team."

The quick hit: Don't expect Huskies quarterback Matt LaCosse to repeat his 36-carry, 263-yard performance. In fact, don't expect last week's 77 rushing plays that included Antonio Owens' 28 carries for 130 yards. They'll try to better balance the offensive load.

">Next week: Glenbard North (1-0) at Naperville North, Sept. 10; St. Charles East at Geneva (0-1), Sept. 10.