Bartlett, St. Charles North will beat heat with earlier start

St. Charles North and Bartlett will try to beat the heat on Saturday.

The Upstate Eight schools were originally scheduled to play their crossover football game on the artificial turf at Millennium Field in Streamwood at 2 p.m.

However, with the temperature predicted to approach 90 degrees in sunny, humid conditions, the schools agreed Wednesday to move up the varsity kickoff to 11:30 a.m. to avoid the building, late-afternoon heat.

"We feel it's in the best interest of the kids to move it up," Bartlett athletic director Jeff Bral said. "You have to look out for high heat indexes, especially when you're talking about a turf field that adds about 20 degrees to the actual temperature. We think it's a smart decision. You don't want the kids in jeopardy."

The sophomore game has been moved up to 9 a.m.

Just for kicks: One of the most exciting Week 1 finishes took place in Algonquin, where Jacobs trailed Prospect by 10 points with 2:46 to play only to rally for 2 touchdowns and a 26-24 victory.

The Golden Eagles prevailed, in part, because of their depth at kicker, where they go three deep.

Senior Jack Hichew sits atop the depth chart when it comes to extra points, but senior Andrew Craig was tabbed to handle kickoffs heading into the season opener, Jacobs coach Bill Mitz said.

That plan changed on the opening kick when Craig went down with a knee injury. He was scheduled to have an MRI this week.

Thus, Hichew stepped in with 1:14 left and delivered a bouncing onside kick that popped up into teammate Blake Tagenhorst's hands at the Prospect 45-yard line.

Jacobs went on to score 4 plays later when Nate Meland made a juggling catch of junior quarterback Chris Katrenick's 34-yard touchdown throw with 24.6 seconds to left.

"That onside kick was beautiful," Mitz said. "Jack was our returning guy from last year and Andrew showed up to be a kicker. They had a real battle on their hands throughout the summer. I've never had that kind of competition at kicker in all my years coaching, but it worked out for us."

Jacobs plays at. St. Charles East (0-1) on Friday.

Next generation: Batavia graduated Peyton Piron last year, coach Dennis Piron's son, and all of Peyton's friends. Dennis Piron had known many of them since they were in kindergarten.

That made this year a new experience for the coach, and Batavia couldn't have started any better than it did Friday, knocking off the state's No. 9 ranked Class 8A team Oswego, 36-28.

"I thanked them," Piron said. "It's a tough year. My oldest graduated and took with him a bunch of kids I've known since they were children. Well, I have known these boys since they were little children, too. That's how it is in our town. I was able to move onto my next group of boys."

Another new face for Batavia is offensive coordinator Sean Anderson, a former backup quarterback at Illinois. He replaces Hall of Famer Mike Gaspari, who moved on to coach quarterbacks at Aurora University.

"Sean has done a wonderful job, built a great relationship with our kids," Piron said.

Anderson had a good time calling plays in the opener, taking advantage of an experienced group of skill position players. Nick Stuttle caught 5 passes for 66 yards and Cole Stokke made 4 catches for 70 yards.

Quarterback Kyle Niemiec made the Panthers pay for focusing on Canaan Coffey, who still got open to the tune of 9 catches for 117 yards and a pair of second-half touchdowns Batavia needed with Oswego mounting a furious comeback.

"Kyle has worked hard with his receivers on some specific throws," Piron said. "Kyle is a special kid. He was a special kid last year. Kyle can run, he can throw on the move, he's a good leader, he sees things.

"Suttle has improved immensely as receiver. Obviously, Canaan Coffey is phenomenal. I believe we'll be dangerous to defend all year. We have a big offensive line. We can run the ball with Zach Garrett (117 yards, 3 touchdowns) who is shifty and hard to tackle. Big tight end. We're going to spread it around. If you are going to double Coffey, we will get you somewhere else. There's so much we can do and these kids can execute it all."

Niemiec certainly is enjoying all his targets and opening up the playbook more than during his junior season when he shared time at quarterback with Evan Acosta.

"Last year we didn't throw deep at all," Niemiec said. "This year we have all our returning receivers back and I'm back and we earned the trust of the coaches.

"We didn't know how to catch that deep ball yet and we finally figured out how to catch that deep ball. Literally, every weekend we would throw for 3 hours and work on that deep ball."

Defensively, linebacker Colin Thurston led with 10 solo tackles and 5 assists, and strong safety Tyler Holl had 9 solos, 4 assists.

The Bulldogs served notice they once again could be the class of the area - currently with a 26-game Upstate Eight River winning streak - until someone knocks them off.

"I'm proud of my boys," Piron said. "I'm always proud of my boys and how much they care about one and other, how much effort they put into being good people and doing the right things in the community. And then to come out and be fearsome, fearsome warriors and play with passion and love for each other is really great."

Gas up the bus: Two area teams will make long road trips this Saturday.

Marmion (1-0) travels 215 miles to the Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville to face Guerin Catholic (1-1) at 5 p.m.

Following a season-opening victory over Plainfield Central, 24-14, the Cadets aim to maintain forward momentum against the Golden Eagles, who in 2014 finished 9-4 and reached a Class 3A state quarterfinal.

Marmion will face a defense led by 6-foot-2, 210-pound junior linebacker Ed Poynter (26 tackles) and 6-5, 235-pound senior end Isaac Fettig (5 tackles for loss). Junior quarterback Elliot Charlebois has completed 21 of 46 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown and has been intercepted twice.

They're a good, physical team," Marmion coach Dan Thorpe said of Guerin. "They'd fit right with the Chicago Catholic League."

Meanwhile, Crystal Lake South (0-1) will make the 323-mile, five-hour trek to Cahokia, Ill., located southeast of St. Louis. The Comanches dropped a 45-8 decision to Highland in their season opener. Cahokia finished 4-5 a season ago.

The Gators likewise finished 4-5 in 2014 and dropped their season opener, a 21-14 loss to Marian Central.

However, coach Chuck Ahsmann was pleased with how his team played overall, particularly on the offensive line. He said 6-foot-6, 260-pound freshman Trevor Keegan more than held his own. Keegan is the first freshman to start a varsity game for CL South, to Ahsmann's knowledge.

The Gators won't be staying over. They'll depart Crystal Lake on Saturday morning, play the game at 3 p.m. and return that night.

"We're treating it like a business trip," Ahsmann said. "We're looking forward to it. College teams and a lot of high school teams have to travel all the time. You have to embrace it.

"I'm sure it'll be a lot better ride home if we win."

John Lemon contributed to this report.