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Scouting this weekend's DuPage County playoff football games

By Kevin Schmit and Dave Oberhelman

kschmit@dailyherald.com

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

No. 6 Barrington (10-1) at No. 2 Glenbard West (11-0)

Class 8A

Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday.

Road to the quarterfinals: Barrington beat No. 11 Oak Park 39-15, and No. 3 Maine South 21-7; Glenbard West beat No. 15 Fremd 34-14, and No. 10 Palatine 41-7.

Outlook: The third straight MSL West opponent figures to be the toughest for Glenbard West, which needs only to look at Barrington's first-round win over West Suburban Silver rival Oak Park as a signal of the Broncos' strength. Their spread offense is particularly dangerous with Bowling Green-bound receiver Scotty Miller, a state track medalist who last week scored on an 88-yard kick return. Quarterback Johnny Davidson's thrown for more than 2,000 yards and running back Dumaso Mkwananzi rushed for 150 yards against Maine South. It's a handful for Glenbard West's rock-solid defense led by Declan Ryan and Nate Orrison up front and Ben Marcus and Nico Gagliano at linebacker. A speed-versus-speed matchup on that side of the ball is countered by Glenbard West's physical ground game headed by Sam Brodner, who last week continued his postseason dominance by rushing for 300 yards. Barrington can't afford to focus too much on Brodner and forget about quarterback Kyle Kramer and Aidan Gould on play-action.

Advancement: The winner advances to play the winner between No. 1 Stevenson (11-0) and No. 4 New Trier (10-1).

No. 2 Simeon (10-1) at No. 4 Naperville Central (9-2)

Class 8A

Game time: 2 p.m. Saturday.

Road to the quarterfinals: Simeon beat No. 7 Downers Grove South 28-7, and No. 3 Hinsdale Central 55-17; Naperville Central beat No. 5 Brother Rice 34-21, and No. 1 Waubonsie Valley 24-14.

Outlook: Simeon's dynamite offense against Naperville Central's opportunistic defense will be the matchup to see. The Wolverines poured it on last week, and a Week 3 win over Wheaton North showed they can hang with the DVC. The Redhawks' defense, however, will be their toughest matchup with lineman Joe Schweikart, linebackers Bobby McMillen and Dan DelGrosso and a secondary filled with ballhawks. Not only do the Redhawks need to contain running back Dion Earls Jr., who last week rushed for 100 yards and 2 scores, Matt Fleming added 100 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Both teams can pile up points on defense. Last week Simeon added 2 touchdowns on fumble returns. Naperville Central's offensive goal is to pound running back Kevin Clifford, who last week rushed for 250 yards, at the defense for four quarters while mixing in play-action from dual-threat quarterback Conor Joyce. Simeon hasn't been in many close games, but the Redhawks thrive on them. That could be a difference-maker late.

Advancement: The winner advances to play the winner between No. 5 Bolingbrook (8-3) and No. 3 Homewood-Flossmoor (9-2).

No. 13 WW South (7-4) at No. 1 Providence (10-1)

Class 7A

Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday.

Road to the quarterfinals: WW South beat No. 4 Lincoln-Way North 17-10, and No. 5 Normal Community 31-9; Providence beat No. 16 Quincy 45-8, and No. 9 St. Rita 34-3.

Outlook: For all the tests WW South's defense has faced this season, this will be the toughest. Providence, with its wide-open spread offense, is a long way from its past seasons focusing on a power ground game. Quarterback Justin Hunniford, who's thrown for 2,800 yards, has done a wonderful job distributing the ball to different receivers, but his go-to guy is 6-foot-5 Notre Dame-bound Miles Boykin, who has 18 touchdowns among his 55 catches. Four other receivers boast at least 20 catches. Jake Kyllonen, who last week snared 2 interceptions, leads the Tigers' secondary behind a corps of linebackers that goes five deep headed by Northwestern-bound Tommy Vitale. WW South had one of its best offensive efforts last week with J.J. Johnson rushing for 170 of the team's 250 ground yards. Quarterback Josh Prueter continues his postseason surge. Against Normal he completed 10 of 15 passes without an interception. Western Michigan-bound receiver Keishawn Watson is WW South's big-play counter to Providence's Boykin.

Advancement: The winner advances to play the winner between No. 2 Lincoln-Way East (10-1) and No. 14 Mt. Carmel (7-4).

No. 10 Hinsdale South (9-2) at No. 6 St. Francis (9-2)

Class 6A

Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday.

Road to the quarterfinals: Hinsdale South beat No. 7 Crystal Lake Central 38-15, and No. 2 DeKalb 17-14; St. Francis beat No. 11 Grayslake North 26-24, and No. 3 Lakes 39-36.

Outlook: Hinsdale South quarterback Rob Regan may not be flashy, but his leadership is a main reason why the Hornets are in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2005. Not to mention his 160 rushing yards last week. The more support he gets from running back Marcus Curry, the better. St. Francis' 3-4 defense hasn't seen much if any triple-option like Hinsdale South's. Allowing 5 scores of at least 26 yards last week, containing the Hornets' speed is key. St. Francis, though, is resilient, opportunistic, creating 33 turnovers with linebacker Nate Zito scoring twice on defense last week. Down 10 points to Lakes with six minutes left, quarterback Clint Bobowski typified the Spartans' resolve by shaking off two partial shoulder dislocations to lead a pair of touchdown drives, each capped by Mike Shaw receptions. Last week Hinsdale South contained Illinois-bound Dre Brown to 90 rushing yards, and this week the Hornets have a similar challenge against Bobowski. Linemen Josh King and Matt Brandeis need to bring steady pressure.

Advancement: The winner advances to play the winner between No. 1 Nazareth (11-0) and No. 13 Lake Forest (8-3).

No. 6 Montini (8-3) at No. 15 Marian Central (7-4)

Class 5A

Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday.

Road to the quarterfinals: Montini beat No. 11 DuSable 56-8, and No. 3 Joliet Catholic 27-13; Marian Central beat No. 2 Solorio Academy 42-0, and No. 10 Sterling 38-17.

Outlook: Montini has beaten Marian five straight years in the playoffs and holds an overall 6-4 postseason edge. Marian coach Ed Brucker is retiring after this season, a great motivator for a Hurricanes squad that may feel it has nothing to lose. The Hurricanes' grass field could also play a role. Miami (Ohio) recruit Billy Bahl has thrown for 1,816 yards, 18 touchdowns; he'll be passing into a Montini 4-3 defense that has 18 interceptions, including linebacker Terrell Johnson's team-high fifth last week, a key play for the Broncos. Be it passing on first down to Eric Ruschke or running Jaryd Cabusao in passing situations, the Marian spread offense keeps foes off balance. So too Montini. Quarterback Chuck Norgle has passed for 2,196 yards, 20 touchdowns, with Leon Thornton III, Patrick Maloney and Tyler Millikan each with at least 36 receptions. Yet tailback Prince Walker and Thornton, out of the Wildcat, ran for Montini's 3 touchdowns against Joliet Catholic. In a close game watch for the big leg of Montini kicker Mason Weissenhofer.

Advancement: The winner advances to play the winner between No. 1 Geneseo (11-0) and No. 12 Sycamore (7-4).

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