It’s a loaded weekend around the area in Week 4. Here are previews of a few of the best games.
No. 6 Brother Rice at No. 1 Loyola 7 p.m. Friday
Brother Rice (2-1, 0-0 Catholic League Blue) has used a quarterback platoon of senior Rocco Galasso (193 passing yards) and freshman Sam Holcomb (437 total yards, nine total TDs). The Crusaders also have a pair of productive running backs in Army commit Jameson Davis and sophomore Aydan Yarbrough. On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame commit Brayden Parks and five-star junior Kameron McGee are one of the state’s elite defensive line duos. Loyola (3-0, 0-0) also has a high-powered offense led by three juniors: quarterback Matthew Lee, running back Melo Maldonado and tight end Jordan McKinley. The Ramblers’ defense has two shutouts, vs. Warren and St. Rita.
No. 4 Oswego at No. 25 Bolingbrook, 7 p.m. Friday
This might be the de facto Southwest Prairie West championship game. Returning Class 8A runner-up Oswego (3-0, 1-0) can move the ball effectively on the ground with junior Ammar Banire, who has offers from Indiana, Illinois and Iowa among others. Senior quarterback Drew Kleinhans gives the usually run-oriented Panthers another dimension, having passed for 560 yards and six touchdowns. Bolingbrook’s Dareion Prescott, a 6-4, 255-pound edge, is a five-star prospect, the consensus No. 1 junior in Illinois and a top-20 player nationally. On offense, the Raiders (2-1, 1-0) lean on Oklahoma State-bound running back TJ Lewis.
No. 9 Sandburg at No. 22 Homewood-Flossmoor, 7:30 p.m. Friday
Sandburg (3-0, 0-0 SouthWest Suburban) has one of the season’s notable victories, 35-28 to snap Montini’s 25-game winning streak. Keep an eye on Eagles junior running back/defensive back Vinny Annel, who returned a kickoff for a TD, ran for 60 yards and had 10 tackles in last week’s 37-14 win against Thornwood. Other impact players include quarterback Sean Ruisz, running back Quinn Durkin (Army) and tight end/receiver Lucas Matykiewicz (Northern Illinois). H-F (2-1, 0-1) opened with dominant shutouts of Bolingbrook and Richards before losing 38-7 to Lincoln-Way East last week. Wisconsin commit David Hill, a 6-3, 300-pound lineman, anchors the Vikings defense.
No. 15 Glenbard West at No. 17 Downers Grove North, 7:30 p.m. Friday:
Glenbard West (2-1, 1-0 West Suburban Silver) is historically one of the more run-heavy offenses in the area. But quarterback AJ Rayford and Northwestern-bound tight end Brady Johnson give the Hilltoppers a potent passing game this season. Another Northwestern commit, 6-8, 300-pound Josiah Wallace, anchors the offensive line. Junior Grant Georgas has 411 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns for Downers North (3-0, 1-0), including 113 yards and three scores in last week’s shutout of Hinsdale Central.
No. 12 Montini at No. 21 Nazareth, 7:30 p.m. Friday
After piling up almost 4,300 total yards and 50 touchdowns for the Class 4A champs last season, senior quarterback Israel Abrams (Miami) is putting up big numbers again for Montini (2-1, 0-0 Catholic League Green). He has 675 yards and eight TDs passing along with three rushing scores as the Broncos are averaging 37 points a game. Nazareth (1-2, 0-0) has a typically challenging schedule with losses to IC Catholic and Mount Carmel sandwiched around a win against York.
