Plainfield C. at Morris

Kickoff: 7 p.m.

The rundown: The Plainfield Central vs. Morris matchup always is a war, and this meeting is made even better by the situations the longtime rivals are in. Plainfield Central is on the cusp of qualifying for the playoffs and shares the Southwest Prairie lead with Oswego. Morris, the defending Class 5A state runnerup, is against the wall, having to win three of its last four to qualify for the playoffs. But the Redskins seem to have recovered from their slow start. Central came up huge last week with a 28-21 victory over previously unbeaten Plainfield South. After falling behind 21-14 early in the third quarter, the Wildcats rallied behind their ball-hawking defense and the running of Brian Meeks. In five games, the Central defense has had 16 takeaways, more than 3 per game. Tonight the Wildcats will have to deal with Adam Tondini, who has recovered sufficiently from injury to return to his accustomed role as Morris' featured running back. Tondini rushed for 96 yards in 28 carries in last week's 24-6 win over Romeoville. Central is averaging a healthy 241.4 yards per game on the ground. Morris won last year's matchup 14-7.