It’s been a roller coaster of a high school football career for Jalen Carter.

First, he was the starting quarterback for Aurora Christian, where as a sophomore he threw for 2,338 yards and 31 touchdowns and rushed for seven more to lead the Eagles to the second round of the 2023 Class 1A playoffs.

He then transferred to St. Francis for his junior season, but was moved to play running back after a preseason injury as the Spartans went all the way to the Class 5A state semifinals.

Now in his senior season, Carter, now at Kaneland, is back at the quarterback position.

And it’s like he never left.

Through four games, Carter has thrown for 534 passing yards with eight touchdowns, and has been a crucial part in the Knights starting the season 4-0 for the second straight season.

“He’s really been great for us,” Kaneland coach Michael Thorgesen said. “He can do it all as a dual-threat quarterback, and he’s fitting in really well. The kids elected him as a captain for a reason, and we’re really happy to have him.”

He’s also been a threat with his legs. Carter has rushed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, which included back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances against Lemont and DeKalb.

“A lot of that comes from my time as a running back with St. Francis,” Carter said. “So I’m used to hitting the holes or getting tackled. That doesn’t bother me a whole lot.”

He’s not the only threat that the Knights have put on display. The Knights also have running back Carter Grabowski, who is already up to 493 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the season. Wide receiver Brady Brown has also been a favorite target for Carter, catching five of his eight passing touchdowns so far.

“We’ve got weapons, and they like playing together,” Thorgesen said after the team’s 56-7 win over Ottawa. “They play well together, and I think we were just clicking tonight. I’m just happy with the way that they came out in this game.”

The Knights now enter a tough slate of league opponents in Morris, Sycamore and Rochelle, all of which the Knights lost to a season ago.

But Carter says he is more than ready for the challenge.

“Morris is definitely going to be a tough game, but the coaches say to take things one week at a time,” Carter said. “Morris is our focus for the upcoming week, and I know that if we do our jobs and compete, it’ll be a good game.”

Taking advantage in the DuKane

Through two weeks of DuKane Conference, only two of the eight teams have managed to go 2-0 in league play.

But after the Week 5 matchup between St. Charles North and Batavia, only one will remain.

The two teams will also be facing off in the second of three matchups between two defending conference champions, with the North Stars besting Geneva 10-7 in Week 3, while the Bulldogs will visit the Vikings in Week 6.

The North Stars enter this week’s matchup as the only team in the conference with a perfect 4-0 record on the season. Wide receiver and Northwestern commit Keaton Reinke has been the main star of the offense, putting up 122 receiving yards and a touchdown in a 34-12 victory over Wheaton North in Week 4.

But he’s certainly been aided by some rising stars this season. Running back Carsen Durante has recorded three consecutive 100-plus rushing yard performances, while quarterback JT Padron put up a season-high 326 passing yards in the Week 4 victory.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, have rallied off three straight wins after a 31-28 loss to Glenbard West in the season opener. A big part of their victories has been the running back duo of seniors Henry Hahn and Preston Brummel, who combined for 245 rushing yards and five touchdowns in a 42-21 victory over Lake Park.

They’ve also got a big-time quarterback under center in junior Michael Vander Luitgaren, who’s thrown eight touchdown passes this season and has commanded the team to a league-high 36.5 points-per-game so far this season.

“That’s ... turned into just a great league rivalry for us year in, year out, and we’re excited,” Bulldogs coach Dennis Piron said of this week’s game. “We got a three-game road stretch here. I’m sure they’ve circled us and we’ve circled them and we’re looking forward to the challenge that they’ve presented.”

The two teams matched up in a battle of undefeated teams in Week 4 of last season, with Batavia getting the 45-21 victory at home over St. Charles North.

Optimism still high on Rocket Hill

Burlington Central’s offense isn’t humming like it did a year ago, when it featured the Fox Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Jackson Alcorn.

The Rockets haven’t scored more than 21 points in any game, but they are 3-1 thanks an offense that has controlled the clock, with the exception of Friday’s homecoming game against undefeated Prairie Ridge, and a defense that is about as good as there is in the FVC.

Central also has played three of the toughest teams in the conference the past three weeks in Prairie Ridge, Jacobs and Cary-Grove.

“I think our offense is exactly what I thought it would be,” coach Brian Iossi said after the Rockets were held to a season-low point total in a 28-7 loss to Prairie Ridge. “We got away a little bit from what we have done most of the year. We’ve been a double tight end [formation team] and have run the heck out of the football. We had some success in empty against [Prairie Ridge] last year, and we had some success last week running some of our empty packages against Jacobs. We felt that we put our guys in the best position to be successful. [Prairie Ridge] made some nice adjustments.”

Central averaged 30.5 points in 11 games last year, as Alcorn (University of Wisconsin-Platteville) threw for 2,246 yards, 22 TDs and only one interception. The Rockets have scored 59 points (14.8 a game) this season. The offense should see an uptick in production as the Rockets’ schedule lightens up in the final five weeks of the regular season.

Against Prairie Ridge, Central had only 72 rushing yards and 10 first downs, three coming on a late-fourth-quarter drive while chasing a 28-0 deficit. For the game, QB Landon Arnold was 8-of-17 passing for 108 yards and an interception. Wide receiver Christian Livingston caught six passes for 85 yards.

Prairie Ridge possessed the ball for more than 34 minutes.

“At the end of the day, we didn’t run the ball very well, and we got to be better there,” Iossi said. “That’s what we’re built on. We’re built on an offensive line. We got eight senior offensive linemen that can block and are really good, and they’re big. That’s on me.“

Despite allowing four TDs against Prairie Ridge, Central is giving up only 11.8 points a game. The Rockets visit rival Hampshire (1-3, 1-3) on Friday.

-- Joe Aguilar