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Nonconference
DeKalb (0-1) at Plainfield South (1-0)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Last matchup: The Cougars won last year, 27-17.
About the Cougars: Plainfield South apparently has a pretty formulaic plan for how they plan to attack opponents, but it also appears to have the potential to be pretty effective. Basically, Plainfield South plans to get the ball to RB Brian Stanton as much as possible and gets out of the way. That worked to the tune of 324 yards from scrimmage for the speedy senior. The Cougars also got a strong effort from their defense in a win over West Aurora, indicating that they may be on their way back to building on a strong defense with a ground-control offense that pounds teams into submission.
About the Barbs: Coming off a 35-7 loss to Sycamore – snapping a seven-game winning streak against the Spartans – coach Derek Schneeman said the Barbs have had a good week of practice so far.
“I feel good where we’re at in our preparation,” Schneeman said. “Friday was a wakeup call of sorts. We’ve responded well so far.”
With Stanton expected to take so many carries, Schneeman said keeping eyes on him at all times is going to be very important.
“We’re going to have to be good all around defensively,” Schneeman said. “We have to read our keys well. He comes at you fast.”
After some early promising drives against the Spartans, the DeKalb offense mostly stalled out, getting it’s lone touchdown after Ethan McCarter returned a kickoff to the Sycamore 40 – his second big kick return of the game.
“We have to be more consistent, quite frankly. It’s the same thing that’s plagued us in recent history,” Schneeman said. “We’d make a play, then get a penalty or a missed assignment that results in a three and out or short drive. We also have to make plays happen. We have kids who can make big plays, and they didn’t get a chance Friday. We have to get the ball in their hands on Friday.”
Friday Night Drive pick: Plainfield South
Oak Forest (1-0) at Sycamore (1-0)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Last matchup: The Spartans won last year, 46-8
About the Spartans: Sycamore opened with a convincing 35-7 win over DeKalb, its first win against their next-door rivals since 2013.
The Spartans had more than 300 yards on the ground, with Tyler Curtis leading the way with 120. Eli Meier also had a solid game at QB as the team’s second-leading rusher while throwing for 150-plus yards – and that’s with two long touchdown bombs to Burke Gautcher called back because of penalties.
“I thought he played really well,” coach Joe Ryan said. “He had 152 yards passing and dropped that one right in the bucket with pressure in his face. We didn’t use him as much because at half he cramped up in his calves. So he was moving a little gingerly in the second half on those first couple of drives. But he showed his maturity as a signal caller. There’s nothing he doesn’t know, and he does it all for us.”
The defense also shined against the Barbs, allowing only one score, and that came after a long kick return set up a short field.
About the Bengals: They started the year with a 31-18 win against Westinghouse under second-year head coach Anthony Malopsy. They are coming off a 4-5 season, which included a 10-point loss to Hillcrest and an eight-point loss to Bremen.
Last year was an uptick for the program, which went 0-9 in 2019 and 2-7 the year before. Oak Forest had made the playoffs every year from 2000-17.
“It’s a second-year coach, and they’re still trying to build things how they want,” Ryan said. “But it’s starting to take a hold a little more. The defense plays hard and runs to the ball. I think he’s continuing to build it, but it looks like it’s trending in the right direction.”
FND pick: Sycamore
Geneva (1-0) at Kaneland (1-0)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Last matchup: Geneva won 31-20 last year.
About the Knights: The defense not only held Andrew in a 52-8 win in Week 1 but returned a fumble for a score as well.
The run offense had a strong performance, showing improvement from a year ago. The team ran for 187 yards on 30 carries, and QB Troyer Carlson threw the ball 26 times for 200 yards.
The ground attack was balanced for the Knights between Chris Ruchaj (9-80-1) and Tyler Bradshaw (16-73-1). Carlson threw four touchdown passes. Dom DeBlasio caught two of them among his seven-catch, 93-yard performance.
About the Vikings: Nate Stempowski established himself as the starting QB and didn’t disappoint, passing for 154 yards and three touchdowns and running for two. Talyn Taylor and Dylan Reyes had three catches apiece. Defensively, the Vikings held Metea Valley to one net rushing yard in the first half and 40 overall.
FND pick: Geneva
Big Northern Conference
Genoa-Kingston (1-0, 1-0) at Rockford Lutheran (1-0, 1-0)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Last matchup: The Cogs won last year, 35-6
About the Cogs: The Cogs are coming off a 35-20 win over Winnebago in Week 1. Nolan Perry had a all-around performance that got him on the Friday Night Drive Team of the Week, and Maddox Lavender made a big impact in his first start.
Lavender scored twice in the win, and coach Cam Davekos liked what he saw.
“He ran the ball hard and had his eyes up when he took the handoff,” Davekos said. “That’s what led to those two touchdowns, he had his eyes up, and that led him to find the gaps and the open holes. He put in 100% effort and did a great job for us.”
The Cogs led last week 35-0 at the half, but the Indians scored 20 straight points to end the game. Davekos said there were little mistakes late, mostly technical things like pad level, that the team looks forward to correcting.
“We feel good about the win,” Davekos said. “Some of the things in the second half didn’t go the way we wanted, but we came out with a big win. We can definitely look back at some miscues or some mistakes and get better, which is exciting for us. Room for improvement is what we look for, and we’re excited about it.”
About the Crusaders: Rockford Lutheran lost 35-0 to North Boone last year at home. This year under new coach Jeff Luedke, the Crusaders won at North Boone, 20-14.
Quarterback Kyng Hughes had a touchdown run for the Crusaders, while David Ballard also had a couple big gains out of the backfield.
“They’re coming off a big win, which is great for their program moving forward,” Davekos said. “They’re going to be geared up and ready to go. On film we watched them against North Boone, and they are fast and physical. We are going to have our hands full.”
FND pick: Genoa-Kingston
Eight-man North I
Hiawatha (1-0) at Ashton-Franklin Center (0-1)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Last matchup: Hiawatha won 56-0 last season in one of only four games A-FC didn’t forfeit.
About the Hawks: Hiawatha opened the year with a 66-24 win over Rockford Christian Life, with Cole Brantley and Tommy Butler carrying most of the offensive load on the ground out of the backfield.
This week, coach Nick Doolittle said he’s looking to fine tune some things.
“I think we need to get better with our run blocking and open up the field a little more,” Doolittle said. “We also need to play some good pass defense against them. They throw the ball a lot. We have to contain the quarterback and not give anything up too deep in the pass game.”
About the Raiders: After only playing four varsity games last year because of low numbers and a rash of injuries, AFC had a solid showing in their season opener, a 36-26 loss to Alden-Hebron. The game was a fill-in after AFC’s original Week 1 opponent, Harvest Christian Academy, was forced to cancel because of low numbers. Senior QB Carson Rueff threw for 380 yards and three TDs, while wideout Auden Polk had 123 receiving yards and a TD. Lane Koning (89 yards) and Michael Cochrane (36 yards) also had touchdown catches.
FND pick: Hiawatha