Wheaton North visits Class 6A No. 1-ranked Geneva at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, with a backup quarterback and a two-game losing streak.
Across town, Wheaton Warrenville South hosts Lake Park at the same time, looking to stay in the DuKane Conference title hunt heading into a pivotal Week 9 matchup against Batavia.
Both Wheaton-area squads sit at 5-2 and have already clinched spots in the expanded IHSA playoff field.
Falcons (5-2, 3-2) at Geneva (6-1, 5-0)
Wheaton North opened the season 5-0 for the first time since 2012, then dropped consecutive games to Lake Park and Batavia. The Falcons showed resilience in the Week 7 loss to Batavia, rallying from a 14-0 deficit to take a 21-14 lead before falling 28-21.
Sophomore quarterback Grant Neibch made his first varsity start in that game and threw three touchdown passes for 197 yards. Two went to Ryne Shroff, including a 55-yarder, and a 54-yard strike went to Adam Schilling. Starting QB Burke Neibch remains injured. Grant Neibch and Rory Burke, who started two earlier games this season, could both see time against Geneva, according to Shaw Local's Friday Night Drive preview.
The Falcons' defense has allowed the second-fewest points in the DuKane at 15.1 per game. Wheaton North also beat Geneva 21-20 last season.
Geneva presents a different challenge this year. The Vikings are averaging 43.7 points per game and beat Glenbard North 62-35 in Week 7. Senior quarterback Ben Peterson, an Eastern Michigan commit, threw for a career-high seven touchdowns and 356 yards on just 12 completions in that game.
Peterson's top target, Illinois commit Bennett Konkey, has 50 catches for 1,145 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. Junior receiver Luke Ignoffo adds 24 catches for 492 yards and seven scores, per the Daily Herald.
"He just worked his butt off. His hands got a lot better from last year to this year," Peterson said of Ignoffo in that Daily Herald feature.
Geneva's defense has allowed three opponents to score 35 or more points this season. The Falcons' backup QBs produced big plays against Batavia, and Wheaton North won this matchup 21-20 a year ago.
Tigers (5-2, 4-1) at home vs. Lake Park (2-5, 1-4)
WWS has won three straight. Quarterback AJ Rogers threw three touchdown passes to Steven Harvey and ran for a 24-yard score in a 35-7 win over St. Charles North in Week 7.
Lake Park arrives having snapped a four-game losing streak with a 35-14 win over St. Charles East in Week 7. Senior QB Tay Smith threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 110 yards and two more scores. Receiver TJ Ogunribido had 10 catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns, including an 82-yarder.
The Tigers beat Lake Park 35-14 last season. A win Saturday keeps WWS in position for a share of the DuKane title if Geneva stumbles. The Tigers close the regular season against Batavia in Week 9.
Playoff picture
All eight DuKane Conference teams are projected to reach the expanded IHSA postseason, which would be unprecedented for an eight-team league, according to Shaw Local analyst Steve Soucie. WWS sits near the boundary between the Class 6A and Class 7A brackets in Soucie's projections.
Both Wheaton-area teams kick off at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10.
