Scouting Lakes at Grant

Lakes (6-2, 3-2) at Grant (4-4, 3-2)

When: 7:30 p.m., today

Last week: Lakes def. Wauconda, 32-21; Grant def. North Chicago, 74-44.

Skinny: There's plenty on the line for both teams in the perhaps the most meaningful game in Lake County this weekend. For Lakes, a win would be historic. Seven wins in a season would be the most in school history. The Eagles are also fighting for a better seed in the playoffs and, theoretically, a more favorable postseason path. “We also want to go into the playoffs with the momentum of a win, rather than a loss,” Lakes coach Luke Mertens said. “It's an important game for our players' psyche.”

…For Grant, it's do, or be done. As in, done with the season. The Bulldogs need a victory to get the minimum five wins to be up for playoff consideration on points. With an NSC Prairie Division-best 38 points heading into the game, Grant should make the cut with a win. “I told our guys two weeks ago, that our playoffs started then,” Grant coach Kurt Rous said. “We couldn't lose any more games from that point. We needed to win out to get into the playoffs. If we lose at all, we're done.”

…Grant has responded to the do-or-die assignment by winning three of its last four games, including last week's barnburner against North Chicago. Rous says the 74 points his team scored is a school record. But while the offense couldn't have been hotter, the defense gave Rous plenty to be concerned about heading into this must-win game. “We have got to play better defense this week because Lakes is a very good team with a very complex offense,” Rous said. “We had some breakdowns defensively against North Chicago. We lost our focus. We had blown assignments, poor coverages, penalties. It was painful to watch. I cringed every time (North Chicago) got the ball because you just never knew what was going to happen. Lakes is very dangerous because they can run the ball well and they can also pass. We're really going to have to be ready to play tough defense the entire game.”

…The Bulldogs will be looking to throw off Lakes' two-quarterback rotation that features Jeff Eder and Chris Hoffman. The Eagles' rushing attack is led by Michael Pfeiffer, who started the season at wide receiver but is filling in nicely in the backfield in the wake of season-ending injuries to backs such as James Zell and Direll Clark

…Grant has had to weather some serious injuries, too. Quarterback Leo Minne missed some time earlier in the season with an ankle injury. But he returned last week and directed the offense to nearly 530 yards. Minne and backs Alex Cacchione and Steven Niewiedzial got the bulk of those yards on the ground. They rushed for 185, 93 and 88 yards respectively.