Geneva will look to receiver Tyler Tuisl against St. Rita. | Facebook
Geneva will look to receiver Tyler Tuisl against St. Rita. | Facebook
7A Second Round
Chicago St. Rita Mustangs (8-2) at Geneva Vikings (6-4)
Friday Nov. 5
7:00 P.M.
It's one of two Friday night match-ups between arguably the two top conferences in Illinois, the Chicago/East Suburban Catholic (11-0 in Round One) and the DuKane (4-1).
Host Geneva placed fifth in the latter. In the regular season, the Vikings were outclassed by the undefeated conference champion Batavia Bulldogs (35-0), who play at Chicago Mt. Carmel Friday night, and runner-up Wheaton North Falcons (27-0).
Geneva was competitive in losses to Glenbard North (21-7) and Wheaton-Warrenville South (13-12), which nearly upset CCL power Chicago Brother Rice (8-2) in Round One. That's enough to make the Vikings sufficiently ominous to St. Rita, despite its record.
The Mustangs' record includes wins against two playoff qualifiers/first round winners (42-39 over Nazareth Academy & 34-0 over St. Patrick) and losses against two others-- 37-7 versus undefeated 8A top seed Loyola Academy and 16-9 in its season opener against South Side nemesis Mt. Carmel.
But St. Rita played all of those games without superstar running back Kaleb Brown, who was injured in the first quarter against Mt. Carmel.
Brown is now back; he suited up and was reportedly ready-to-go, if needed, for the Mustangs' first round game against Rolling Meadows (42-7 win). It remains a mystery as to whether he will play Friday night.
St. Rita has weapons other than Brown. QB Tommy Ulatowski and receivers Brayden Hall and E.J. Nwagwu will play college football. Offensive tackle Valen Erickson (6'6, 315) is one of the most highly-recruited linemen in the state; he picked Missouri over Nebraska, Cincinnati and Illinois.
Geneva's primary offensive producer, senior running back Carter Powelson, broke his collarbone in the Vikings' first round rout of Collinsville. Junior Jackson Reyes (5'11, 185) will take his place.
The Vikings will look to senior QB Alex Porter and senior receivers Mason Pawelko and Tyler Tuisl to pick up the offensive slack.
Our pick: St. Rita -17
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