Pigskin Previews - Week 3
Amboy/LaMoille (2-0)
at St. Bede (0-2)
Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. Bede Academy.
BCR insider: The Bruins gave defending 2A champ Morrison everything and then some in last week’s loss. Another similar effort against the Clippers Friday could bring the first win of the season to the Academy. Amboy/LaMoille was equally impressive in Week 2, netting a 42-18 win over Big Rivers newcomer Kewanee. The Clippers held the Boilers to 101 yards rushing, but allowed 210 in the air. On offense, Amboy racked up 262 yards rushing, paced by Danny Bontz (20-126). ... Morrison scored late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter to go up 33-13. The Bruins showed the kind of fight that teams have expected from John Bellino’s teams over the years, scoring on two Nick Hueneberg TDs (4 and 2 yard runs) to get within a touchdown of the defending champs, but ran out of time. SBA held Morrison’s ground game to 142 yards, while rushing for 167 of its own, but surrendered 329 yards in the air via Mustangs QB Danny Dennehey (10-21).
Last year: A/L 13-6.
Last week: Amboy beat Kewanee 42-18; SBA lost to Morrison 33-27.
All-time series: Tied 8-8.
Radio: WSOG 88.9 FM.
Lake Forest Academy (1-1)
at Hall (1-1)
Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Nesti Stadium.
BCR insider: Lake Forest Academy is a vagabond football program, playing teams from around the Midwest. The Caxys beat St. John’s Northwestern of Delafield, Wis., 41-12 in Week 2 and next week host a school from Hudson, Ohio. After four weeks with in-state opponents, LFA entertains Saltsburg, Pa. As a coed college preparatory school and an IHSA associate member, the Caxys are ineligible to play in the IHSA playoffs. However, Hall gets playoff points for their wins. ... On the field, the Caxys run a spread offense and an even front defense, Hall coach Jason Bland said, not much difference than last week’s opponent, Momence. “They have good size on the OL, but not as much explosiveness at WR as Momence. Their back (#5 - Ricky Larke) is fast and elusive, definitely their most dangerous guy on offense. Our focus is the same this week — not giving up big plays on defense and controlling the ball on offense,” Bland said. ... The Red Devils held on for a 7-6 win over Momence last week at Nesti Stadium and Bland said you always learn a lot more from a tight game like that. “We learned more about our offense and how we adjust to what a defense is doing,” he said. Hall will be short-handed with a “couple of guys out for this week,” Bland said, for reasons he would not discuss further. “We just have to adjust and play with the guys that can go,” he said. ... The Caxys went 5-4 in 2009.
Last week: LFA lost to Chicago Mt. Carmel 45-8; Hall beat Momence 7-6.
Last year: First meeting.
All-time series: 0-0.
Radio: WAJK 99.3 FM.
Princeton (1-1) at
Peoria Notre Dame (0-2)
Game time: 7 p.m. Friday at Richwoods Stadium.
BCR insider: The Irish lost a bloodbath at Dunlap last week, falling 45-17 in a game marred by a combined seven unsportsmanlike violations and a two more offsetting calls for a total of 170 yards in penalties. Notre Dame linebacker Austin Bieneman was ejected in the second half for spearing, according to the Peoria Journal Star, and will be ineligible Friday vs. PHS. First year Notre Dame coach Joe Walters was not happy about the extracurriculars. Walters told the Journal Star, “That’s not acceptable in our program at all. That’s why we pulled kids out. There’s no excuse for it. They were really riled up for the game and there’s a big rivalry between both schools.” Many kids on both sides had attended grade school together, he said. ... PHS quarterback Dylan Olson might want to start warming up his arm. Notre Dame allowed 244 passing yards to Dunlap, plus 144 rushing. PHS coach Dave Moore says that the high passing total can be contributed, in part, to how Notre Dame covered Dunlap and was “more worried about Dunlap running the ball.” The Tigers will continue to “try to do what we do best and that’s run the ball,” Moore said. On defense, Moore noted the Tigers were burned by Manual on big plays on 4-25, 4-16 and 4-12. He said they need to stick to their assignments. “Some people got carried away trying to do too much instead doing what they need to do. If we’d done that against Manual, it would have been a tougher time running the football. You can’t take anything from Manual. They had good backs, they made us miss. They were 200 (pounds) plus and they could run,” Moore said. The Tiger coach found it strange the Tigers never gave up a single conversion point. “If anything is easy to give up (it’s that). You’d think you’d score one PAT out of 30 points and they didn’t,” he said. ... Walters, a former Irish assistant, succeeds former boss Tom Gullickson, who departed in a mutual agreement after leading the Irish to their first winning season (5-4) since 2001. He brings in more of a spread offense, Moore said, wanting to run more than pass. The Irish are not as big nor as fast as Manual proved to be last week, Moore said. ... With the IHSA multiplier, Notre Dame has an enrollment of 1,345.56, double the size of PHS. ... Friday’s F/S game will be held at Notre Dame High School at 5 p.m., allowing for a 7 p.m. sharp varsity kickoff at neighboring Richwoods.
Last week: PHS lost to Manual 30-12; Notre Dame lost to Dunlap 45-17.
Last year: PHS 26-6.
All-time series: Notre Dame 3-2.
Radio: WZOE 1490 AM.
Bureau Valley (2-0)
at Kewanee (1-1)
Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Kewanee.
BCR insider: The neighboring schools separated by only 25 miles, meet for only the second time in the 16-year history of Bureau Valley. Kewanee beat the Storm 48-0 in 1998. Friday’s meeting will be the first as conference rivals with Kewanee coming into the Big Rivers fold this year. ... The Boilers snapped a 31-game losing streak in Week 1 with a 27-25 win over St. Bede. They may have taken a step back, falling to Amboy 42-18 last week. Kewanee’s offense was effective, totaling 311 yards on 101 yards rushing and 201 passing, but its defense gave up 340 net yards, including 262 rushing. ... BV will need to keep an eye on Kewanee junior QB Jake Scott, who has thrown for 452 yards (23-52) in two weeks. Fleet-footed Daunte Pryor, a junior TB, has yet to play for the Boilers with an undisclosed injury and is a game-time decision, according to KHS coach Chris Waca. Alfanso Inocencio led KHS with 61 yards on 14 attempts last week and Ryan Matuszyk went for 86 yards on 14 carries the week before, but missed last week with a sprained ankle. Despite Scott’s early success, which Waca said came about “for what we had and didn’t have available,” Waca said the Boilers want to run the ball and try to take BV’s time of possession away. He knows the Boilers can expect the same from the Storm. “The biggest thing for us, we’ve got to minimize mistakes. We’ve got too many big penalties in the last two games,” Waca said. ... BV coach Jeff Ohlson casts a leery eye on the Boilers and their upcoming talent, but believes his Storm will be up for the challenge. “They’re fast and athletic and got one of most athletic kids not on the field yet. We’ll have our hands full. If we play good solid defense, and we play the way we’re capable of playing and play the way we’ve been coached we’ll be OK,” he said. Ohlson can’t complain about his team’s efforts after going on the road to win at Riverdale last week against a physical team like the Rams. He said the Storm defense made the necessary adjustments at halftime after the Rams gave them a new look in the first half they hadn’t seen before. The Storm coach said senior RB Tanner Schoff (13 rushes, 60 carries last week) has really improved his game and senior QB Seth Baker and his offensive line are playing solid. ... BV climbed one spot in this week’s AP 2A poll to No. 8, but slipped out of the top 10 (13th) in the IHSSN poll.
Last week: BV beat Riverdale 14-7; Kewanee lost to Amboy 42-18.
Last year: Did not play.
Last meeting: 1998, Kewanee 48-0.
All-time series: Kewanee 1-0.
Radio: WZOE 98.1 FM.
Other area games
Chicago Amundsen at Mendota
Rock Falls at Peoria Manual
Peoria Central at IVC
Riverdale at Erie/Prophetstown
Marquette at Fulton
Morrison at Sterling Newman
Cambridge Ridgewood at Annawan/Wethersfield
Yorkville at Ottawa
Rochelle at Geneseo
L-P at Sterling
Dixon at Kaneland
Morris at Streator
— Kevin Hieronymus
