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Kaneland, Sycamore and Genoa-Kingston improved to 2-0 last week, while Hiawatha fell to 1-1 and DeKalb slipped to 0-2 despite leading in the fourth quarter of both its games.
Here is one storyline for each team heading into Week 3.
DeKalb: Closing games out
The Barbs are looking to break through with a victory Friday when they make the trip to Maple Park to face the Knights. They’ve led both games this season in the fourth quarter, but lost to Sycamore 35-28 and Plainfield South 17-14.
Now they face a 2-0 Knights team.
“We need to finish,” DeKalb coach Derek Schneeman said. “We have mistakes here and there throughout the course of the game, and especially down the stretch, that we’ve made that have been difference makers. We’ve had turnovers and missed assignments. We need to play a complete 48 minutes and maintain focus for 48 minutes is all what it comes down to.”
Sycamore: Getting healthy
There’s been an illness bouncing around the Sycamore locker room. Coach Joe Ryan missed some of practice Tuesday, and he wasn’t alone.
Ryan said the illness has affected a huge chunk of his team, but he’s hoping things are going to get right quick. He said at the start of the school year sickness can happen, although usually not all at once.
He’s hoping the team will be back at full strength when it heads south to Mahomet-Seymour on Friday as they look to go 3-0 on the season.
“We lost some practice time, but guys have stepped up,” Ryan said Wednesday. “Hopefully guys will get to practice [Wednesday] and we can get going.”
Kaneland: Defense clicking on all cylinders
The Knights have faced a pair of projected explosive offenses in Washington and Wauconda. They’ve combined to score 21 points on the Knights as Kaneland has started 2-0.
Now they face a DeKalb team that has a dynamic quarterback-wide receiver duo in Cole Latimer and Davon Grant.
Carter Grabowski leads the Knights with 22 tackles, while Rogan O’Neil, Jake Buckley and Jackson Little each have a sack. Little also has a pair of interceptions.
None of those players are seniors. Coach Michael Thorgesen said even though the defense is young, they are doing well.
“We’re only really starting one senior,” Thorgesen said. “It’s all sophomores and juniors. We’ve just been locked in. They study and prepare very well. I think we’re above average at tackling. It always helps when you have 11 kids that can tackle decently. We’ve kept a lot of points off the board by doing that.”
Genoa-Kingston: Epitomizing a team effort
Five touchdowns by five different players.
When the Cogs started Big Northern Conference play with a 34-0 win against North Boone, five different Cogs scored in the win.
The Cogs have scored 75 points this season as they get ready to face Oregon in Week 3.
“It builds our confidence knowing that the defense is going to have to key on multiple guys,” coach Cam Davekos said. “It kind of puts us or really any team at an advantage when you can score from multiple areas on the field. We just try to think of it as a bonus for the guy who gets the score. The whole team wants to celebrate that individual. It’s the mindset of making the person next to you better.”
Hiawatha: Bouncing back after a big loss
The Hawks opened the season with a 6-0 thriller at Rockford Christian Life. Week 2 didn’t go as well, falling at home to West Carroll 54-0.
The team was without middle linebacker Tommy Butler. His status for Friday at Polo also is uncertain, but either way coach Kenny McPeek said the Hawks are much more prepared this week.
“When you take away your middle linebacker, you’re leading tackler, it’s obvious,” McPeek said. “We had two days. We found out Wednesday and had two days to get ready. We’ll be a little more ready if he’s not there, just with the experience the guys got last week. But when you take your star out its never the same.”