Week 3: Scouting the Upstate Eight River
St. Charles East (2-0-) at
Geneva (1-1)
Upstate Eight River
Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Burgess Field
Last year: St. Charles East 30, Geneva 0
Last week: St. Charles East 42, Glenbard East 0; Geneva 28, Kaneland 21
Outlook: The Geneva offense, led by quarterback Bobby Murray, gained confidence with last week's win over Kaneland. The senior completed 18 of 25 attempts for 263 yards, no interceptions and 3 touchdowns, including a 27-yarder to 6-foot-1 senior receiver Ian Hanson, a 25-yarder to 6-4 senior receiver Jacob Temple and a 50-yarder to junior Garret Sneed. Through two weeks Murray has completed passes to nine different players. St. Charles East rolled its first two opponents by a combined score of 83-7 with senior quarterback Clayton Isbell directing the triple option. A Saints defense that features six returning all-UEC River players has held its first two opponents to an average of 183 total yards, led by linebacker Abe Swanson, Pat Griffin and Nico Piaskowy, among many. "Geneva is really physical and they do a lot of good things," St. Charles East coach Bryce Farquhar said. "They came back real strong in the second half (of a 34-27 loss) against Joliet Catholic. They're a bunch of fighters. We'll have our hands full."
Next week: St. Charles North (1-1) at St. Charles East; Streamwood (0-2) at Geneva
St. Charles North (1-1) at
Larkin (1-1)
Upstate Eight River
Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Memorial Field
Last year: St. Charles North 38, Larkin 0
Last week: Bolingbrook 28, St. Charles North 20; Maine West 40, Larkin 13
Outlook: Each team seeks a return to the win column in this UEC River opener following Week 2 setbacks. Larkin's offense was held in check by a good Maine West defense last Friday. The Royals would benefit from a faster start. They were shut out in the first halves of each of their first two games. Senior running back Kindrel Morris has accounted for 2 of the Royals' 4 touchdowns. "Coach (Dragan) Teonic does a great job of getting his athletes to play to the best of their ability so we need to execute in all three phases," St. Charles North coach Rob Pomazak said. "We have to hit wide receivers when it's there, our defense has to be able to get off the field on third down and on fourth down if we get to it and we have to be able to flip the field on special teams when we need to." Offensively, the North Stars are getting production from 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior receiver Tyler Nubin, who has 10 receptions for 164 yards and a touchdown. In his first two starts senior quarterback Michael Hohensee has completed 39 of 31 attempts for 573 yards and 4 touchdowns without an interception.
Next week: St. Charles North at St. Charles East (2-0); Larkin at West Chicago (1-1)
Elgin (1-1) at McHenry (1-1)Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday at McCracken Field
The quick hit: In light of last week's overtime loss to West Chicago, Elgin needs to pull a surprise upset somewhere on its schedule to be considered a bona fide playoff threat. Is this the week? McHenry's explosive offense was stifled last week by a superior Cary-Grove defense after the Warriors scored 50 in Week 1.
Streamwood (0-2) at Batavia (2-0)Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Bulldog Stadium
The quick hit: Batavia's defense has yielded 1 touchdown in eight quarters. That should prove challenging to a Streamwood offense blanked two weeks in a row by Maine West and Mundelein.