Naperville Central scouted Marist last week and studied two more games off the film exchange. That was probably all it needed to see.
Most likely, it can't match Marist score for score. Its offensive profile suggests that it won't, so it will think about Saturday's second-round Class 8A playoff game in other terms.
These are the final days of Upstate Eight Conference football before it takes a new shape.
It has two teams remaining in the IHSA playoffs, as well as 9-1 Geneva, which will leave the Western Sun and join the league at the end of the academic year. 
Naperville Central began the season with three running backs for a spread system that sometimes doesn't even require one.
The Redhawks knew they wouldn't run many two-back sets. They rotated players and divided the carries, or they could always go empty backfield. 
Naperville North senior center Matt Hasse gave a verbal commitment to
Austin Peay on Monday, ending a quick recruiting process and
solidifying himself as a Division I prospect.
Downers Grove South found a way to grind out 10 needed points in the
second half and stood breathless as it saw a 40-yard field goal by Waubonsie Valley with 28 seconds remaining sail wide left. That allowed the
Mustangs to squeak out a 22-21 win in a Class 8A first-round playoff
game at Benedictine University.
Naperville Central senior quarterback Nick Linne threw four touchdown passes —
three to senior tight end Cam Brate — as the Redhawks scored 14
unanswered points in the second half to pull away from Lockport, 28-16,
Friday night in a Class 8A first-round playoff game.
Lack of offers for Linne a puzzler
Recruiters from Illinois, Ohio State and Notre Dame have already mined suburban Chicago for verbal commitments from Class of 2010 quarterbacks. Mid-American Conference programs have also extended offers to additional quarterbacks in the area.
Flu news hits home in Naperville
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention caution that those younger than 25 are most susceptible to the H1N1 virus. The outbreak has caused the highest number of deaths among people 25 to 49, the federal agency reports. Those age ranges will inevitably target athletes.
Niklos' game: Bigger, faster, stronger
J.R. Niklos shows off the tricked-out treadmill he and Randy Moss used as Oakland Raiders. One needed to do everything to stick in the NFL, while the other could get away with anything because of his physical gifts.
Concussions a scary fact of life
For as progressive as football has become, it still amounts to trying to knock the snot out of the guy in front of you.
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