No. 3 Nazareth at No. 8 St. Rita, 7:30 p.m. Friday
The winner controls its destiny in the CCL/ESCC Green. Both teams have lost only to Mount Carmel: Nazareth by a 56-33 score and St. Rita by 28-0. Nazareth (4-1, 1-0) is coming off a 16-13 win against Joliet Catholic in which Logan Malachuk and Trenton Taylor were a prolific pass-catch duo again. A pair of Power Four commits, edge rusher Gabe Kaminski (Stanford) and defensive back Garrett Reese (Indiana) lead the Roadrunners’ defense. Justin Buckner is a productive two-way player for St. Rita (4-1, 1-0), leading the defense from his linebacker spot and running effectively out of the Wildcat. Nick Herman’s running is another plus for the Mustangs.
No. 4 Downers Grove North at No. 15 York, 7:30 p.m. Friday
Finally, it’s a serious test for Downers North (5-0, 3-0 West Suburban Silver) and quarterback Owen Lansu.The Minnesota commit played just eight quarters in the Trojans’ first four games and their closest game so far was last week’s 28-7 win against Oak Park-River Forest. York (5-0, 2-0) also has a productive quarterback in Bruno Massel along with a two-way standout in Jimmy Conners. He ran for three touchdowns and picked off a pass in last week’s 21-13 win against Hinsdale Central.
No. 19 Geneva at No. 5 Batavia, 7 p.m. Friday
It’s the 106th meeting between these neighboring schools, who started playing each other in 1912 and have missed just one year since 1937. Batavia (5-0, 3-0) has had the best of it lately, going 13-0 under coach Dennis Piron to cut Geneva’s series lead to 51-49 with five ties. But the Bulldogs won just 21-18 last season and this shapes up as one of the best games in the rivalry’s history. Batavia has almost an entirely new starting lineup on offense, but senior running back Nathan Whitwell has been brilliant with 923 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. Geneva (5-0, 3-0) has as good a pass-catch combo as any around with quarterback Anthony Chahino (1,259 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, one interception) and Georgia-bound receiver Talyn Taylor (31.8 yards per catch, 12 touchdowns).
No. 7 Barrington at No. 25 Fremd, 7:30 p.m. Friday
The Mid-Suburban West is sneaky good this fall; its top four teams are a combined 22-3 with Barrington and Fremd both sitting at 5-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play. In a great year for quarterbacks around the area, each team has an elite one. Barrington’s Nick Peipert has completed 72% of his passes for 1,217 yards and 14 touchdowns with one interception and a 149.0 quarterback rating. For Fremd, Northwestern commit Johnny O’Brien is completing 66% of his passes for 1,284 yards and 16 TDs with two interceptions.
Providence at No. 13 Marist, 7:30 p.m. Friday
Providence (3-2, 1-0 CCL/ESCC Orange) beat St. Francis 27-25 last week in maybe the wildest finish of the season. The Spartans were in victory formation up four in the closing seconds when they were called for delay of game. The Celtics got the ball back and won it on a 30-yard Hail Mary from AJ Rayford to Jayden Mikulski. With Marist, Loyola and Joliet Catholic still to play, it was close to a must-win for Providence. Cornell commit John McAuliffe had 253 yards and five touchdowns on 34 touches for Marist (4-1, 0-1) in last week’s 34-26 win against IC Catholic.