Scouting: Maine South at Bartlett

Advancement: The winner will face the winner of No. 6 Mt. Carmel (10-2) at No. 9 Hinsdale Central (10-2) in the Class 8A state championship at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.

Outlook: The top two seeds in the upper bracket collide with a berth in the state title game on the line. Bartlett's offense was at the top of its game last week against Schaumburg, scoring touchdowns on 4 of its first 5 possessions to take a 28-0 lead at the half. But a kickoff return for a touchdown and 2 onside kicks recovered by Schaumburg fueled a frenzied comeback during which the Bartlett defense was on the field for 46 snaps in the second half. The Hawks prevailed when quarterback Josh Hasenberg connected with Alex VanNess for a 45-yard pass that set up the game-winning 25-yard field goal by Dan Karys with 7.4 seconds left. It's a safe bet Maine South, which uses the spread offense as well as any team in the state, watched Schaumburg's second-half success with the spread against the Bartlett defense with a raised eyebrow. "It would have been a different story if they'd gotten some of those onside kicks, but we definitely learned some things from the film," said Maine South coach David Inserra, who is 88-12 in eight seasons at the Park Ridge school. Maine South is led by senior quarterback Charlie Goro (Vanderbilt). He has completed 203-of-273 attempts (74 percent) for 2,861 yards and 37 touchdowns with only 4 interceptions. "Their quarterback really makes it go and he has five running backs at his disposal," Bartlett coach Tom Meaney said. "He can just throw it to anyone he wants and make them go one-on-one with people, and they're pretty successful. Those kids are all very quick and very fast. Playing coverage with one defender on them is going to be trouble. We have to run to the ball and help each other out this week. Their top six or seven athletes... we don't have anybody with that kind of speed. But we'll come with our hearts and our soul and get after it." Maine South junior running back Matt Perez can do it all. He has 26 touchdowns and 2,008 all-purpose yards: 903 rushing, 660 on returns, 417 receiving. The defense is anchored by senior Zach Timm (6-3, 225), the defensive player of the year in the Central Suburban League. The two-way starter has 16 tackles for loss. Middle linebackers Corby Ryan (78 tackles) and Nick Catino (63 tackles) have combined for 19 tackles for loss. Bartlett will try to minimize Goro's opportunities the same way it kept Schaumburg's spread offense relatively idle in the first half last week, when it dominated time of possession 16:14 to 7:46. Bartlett rushed for 253 yards behind backs Fabian Libreri (116 yards, TD) and Corleon Richardson (85 yards) and quarterback Josh Hasenberg rushed for 3 touchdowns and threw for another. The senior has completed 139-of-231 attempts (60 percent) for school records of 2,039 yards and 21 touchdowns. Like Goro, he has thrown only 4 interceptions. "They're a team that wants to control the clock offensively with their ground game, and they have a nice quarterback to complement that ground game," Inserra said. "He's extremely accurate, has a strong arm and can really get the ball in there. They would like to grind the clock out and keep our offense off the field." Maine South was ranked No. 2 in 8A to open the season and has held the top spot in the polls since Week 4. Bartlett has never played in a game of this magnitude, but the coaching staff hasn't changed a thing. Bartlett remained focused in practice this week on individual responsibilities, not the big picture. "We tell them just do your job," Meaney said. "Don't try to do the job of somebody next to you. If you're responsible for this gap, or this block or responsible for this containment, you just have to do your job. And we try to put them in the right positions to do that. This is big time for us. But the kids aren't done yet. They want to continue going."