Scouting Round 2, Northwest
No. 2 Batavia (9-1) at No. 10 Rolling Meadows (7-3)
When: Saturday 6:00 PM
Live video streaming: @football.dailyherald.com, followed by postgame highlights.
Last week: Batavia beat DeKalb 48-6. Rolling Meadows beat Grayslake North 49-20
Outlook: Rolling Meadows won its first playoff game since 2007 and the Mustangs are playing their best football right now. Rolling Meadows is averaging over 35 points and the Mustangs are coming off their best offensive output of the season, scoring 49 points while putting up 433 total yards of offense. Batavia is a much higher seed and has been a dominant program in recent years, but Meadows is ready for the challenge. “They are obviously really good,” Rolling Meadows coach Matt Mishler said of Batavia. “They do a lot of things well on both sides of the ball. But we are playing out best football right now and we are really excited for the opportunity.” Bobby Suchecki continues to thrive in the Mustangs offense, throwing for 299 yards and 4 touchdowns last week. Running back Kevin Montero is coming off a 4-touchdown game and has gained 876 yards this year. They key will be slowing Batavia’s offense, which is averaging 45 points per game and has not allowed an opponent to score more than 2 touchdowns in a game since the third week of the season. Batavia, which had expected to be in 7A, was able to drop to 6A by — 3 students. The Bulldogs beat state power Glenbard North in the first week of the season, and their only loss was Richards. That was the first regular-season loss for Batavia in three years.
CLASS 7A
No. Glenbard West (9-1) at No. 11 Conant (7-3)
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Live video streaming: @football.dailyherald.com, followed by postgame highlights.
Last week: Glenbard West beat Machesney Park Harlem 49-14; Conant beat Jacobs 42-35
Outlook: Conant has been moving the ball and scoring with the authority the past three weeks, averaging 37 points in that span. Now the Cougars face a top test in defending Class 7A champion Glenbard West, which has allowed 7.9 points per game. Conant will put the ball in the hands of Danny Modelski, who threw for 311 yards last week and upped his season touchdown pass total to26. Modelski will spread the ball to Mike Kos, Bryson Brown, Dante Marski, Elias Gardner and DeAngelo McBride. Gardner, who has become the major ground threat for the Cougars, is coming off a 190-yard, 3-touchdown performance against Jacobs. Glenbard West, which has gone 68-6 over the past six years under coach Chad Hetlet, has won 9 in a row this season since an opening-week loss to Wheaton Warrenville South. During that span, the Hilltoppers have averaged over 40 points in what many thought might be a rebuilding year. “They are a good football team,” Conant coach Bill Modelski said. “They are physical on offense and fast on defense. We will have our hands full. But we have some things we can do. We are going to have to execute well and find some balance and play our game.”
No. 2 Schaumburg (9-1) vs. No. 10 St. Patrick (7-3) at Hanson Stadium
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Last week: Schaumburg beat Schurz 49-3; St. Pat’s beat Geneva 31-23.
Outlook: For the second consecutive week, Schaumburg will meet a team from Chicago. But St. Patrick is not a Public League team, as demonstrated by the Shamrocks’ 22-21 victory over state-power Joliet Catholic in Week 6. Schaumburg continued its strong rushing attack, pounding out 412 yards last week against Schurz to up its season total to 3,555. Quarterback Stacey Smith, who should love the astroturf at Hanson Stadium, continued his personal ground assault, rushing for 131 yards to bring his season total to 1,621 yards. But while the Saxons offense has gained most of the acclaim this season, the defense, led by Sadarriss Patterson, Connor Lapinski, Ryan Woloszyk and Noah Miller has allowed just 16.8 points per game. Last week against Schurz, the defense held the Bulldogs to minus 24 yards rushing while forcing 3 turnovers. St. Pat’s, which has played seven playoff teams, has won 6 in a row. The Shamrocks and have had strong play from junior quarterback Zach Fuller and running back Jeremy Molina. “They are extremely physical on both sides of the ball,” Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling said. “They will have a size advantage over us. But we are used to that, since everyone we have played is bigger than we are. We know how to handle that.”
CLASS 8A
No. 2 Barrington (9-1) vs No. 10 Warren (7-3) at Warren’s O’Plaine Campus
When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
Last week: Barrington beat Evanston 23-8. Warren beat Glenbrook South 33-17
Outlook: Both teams are coming off of opening-round victories over teams from the Central Suburban South. Barrington continues to get great quarterback play from Daniel Kubiuk, who threw 3 touchdown passes last week. Scotty Miller is baffling defenses with his speed, and Matt Moran is also a threat on the receiving end. Warren’s three losses each came against teams still alive in the playoffs — Lake Zurich, Lake Forest and Stevenson. The Blue Devils like to throw the ball with Andrew Nickell coming off a career night last week after throwing for a school-record 431 yards. “They remind me a lot of Rolling Meadows,” Barrington coach Joe Sanchez said. “They like to throw it and they throw it very well. Their quarterback is accurate and gets the ball off on time. We have to be aggressive and active defensively to stop them.” Sanchez will look to Jake Coon, Colin Castagna, Kyle Meckert, Jacob Bulandr, Mark Bornhofen, David Danhauer, Nick Coy, Evan Strunk and Miller to slow the Blue Devils.