Record Newspapers football preview capsules for Week 5

Southwest Prairie Conference

Minooka (2-2) at Oswego (2-2)

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Last matchup: Oswego 21, Minooka 14 (spring 2021)

About the Indians: Minooka’s somewhat surprising loss to Plainfield Central in Week 4 puts them in a somewhat perilous place as they head into a big rivalry game here. Minooka’s .500 record means they must win at least three in division games in a deep league to get to the five-win plateau and the treacherous three-game stretch it now faces of Oswego, Oswego East and Plainfield North demands Minooka gets at least one win in to keep them on the path to at least five wins. Offensively, Minooka seems to be finding its groove, but defensively some patching needs to be done. NIU recruit Malik Armstrong is a player to watch.

About the Panthers: Oswego is back to the .500 mark after starting the season 0-2, following up a forfeit win over Joliet Central by taking care of business against Romeoville, 61-20. Matt Jones and an opportunistic Panthers’ defense forced five turnovers. Minooka has emerged as one of Oswego’s fiercest rivals in the SPC West, the teams trading one-touchdown wins the last two seasons decided in the last minute that determined the division champion. Junior quarterback Cruz Ibarra has thrown for 337 yards on the season with four TDs and zero interceptions, completing 56.1% of his passes. His top target, junior tight end Deakon Tonielli, had his best game of the spring season against Minooka – and would surely love a repeat of that.

FND Pick: Oswego

Oswego East (4-0) at West Aurora (3-1)

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Last matchup: Oswego East 16, West Aurora 13 (2019)

About the Wolves: Oswego East had a week away from competition, picking up a forfeit win over Joliet Central going into SPC West play. The Wolves are the lone unbeaten left in the SPC West, but don’t need to be reminded how tough things can get in divisional play – Oswego East also started the 2019 season 4-0, then lost the next four games. Junior quarterback Tre Jones, with a combined 530 yards rushing and passing in three games, is a playmaker, although the Wolves would probably like to get running backs Darquel Sanders and Oshobi Odior going a little more to balance the attack. Illinois recruit Jared Badie anchors a tough defense that sets the tone for the Wolves.

About the Blackhawks: West Aurora seems to be on the verge of a bounce-back season after going a combined 3-12 in its first seasons in the SPC West. The Blackhawks picked up a forfeit win over Joliet West last week; their only blemish on the season is a 35-34 loss to Eisenhower in Week 2 after Romeoville forfeited. Noteworthy in SPC crossovers is West Aurora handed Plainfield Central, which just beat Minooka, its only loss. The Blackhawks have their own talented junior quarterback in Gino Martino. Andrew Kolich, a 6-foot-4 junior who caught the game-winning touchdown against Plainfield Central, is among his top targets.

FND Pick: Oswego East

Yorkville (3-1) at Plainfield North (3-1)

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Last matchup: Plainfield North 27, Yorkville 0 (spring 2021 season)

About the Foxes: Yorkville’s defense continues to be opportunistic. The Foxes have forced five turnovers in each of the last two weeks, including a 27-6 Week 4 win over Plainfield East with sophomore linebacker Ben Alvarez returning a fumble for a TD and intercepting a pass. But Yorkville will have to take things up a notch here to try to rein in a Plainfield North offense that has been pretty successful engineering points with a bruising running game. It should make for a good matchup against a stout Foxes’ defensive line led by Andrew Laurich, Jake Davies and Andrew Zook. The status of multiple Yorkville running backs is uncertain, which could mean more touches for quarterback Nate Kraus both on the ground and through the air.

About the Tigers: Plainfield North’s defensive unit was truly astonishing in a rivalry win over Plainfield South in Week 4, holding the Cougars to a scant seven yards total in the win. The Tigers have a real old-school feel about them, using a punishing ground game to control clock and field position and clearly have the expectation that its solid defensive unit affords them the luxury to not have the need to get into high-powered offensive based matchups.

FND pick: Plainfield North

Kishwaukee River/Interstate Eight Blue

Plano (3-1, 1-1) at Johnsburg (0-4, 0-2)

When: 7:15 p.m. Friday

Last matchup: Johnsburg 70, Plano 0 (2017)

About the Reapers: Plano stamped itself as a team to be reckoned with in defeat last week, taking Richmond-Burton and its now 24-game winning streak to the wire in a 21-14 loss. Plano tied the game with less than four minutes left, but Richmond-Burton scored the game-winner with 1:16 left and forced a stop. The Reapers defense continues to impress. Unscored upon its first two games, Plano held Richmond-Burton to its fewest points since 2018. Sean Earwood was a ringleader with 11 tackles. Speedy Ray Jones has run for an area-best 384 yards on the season and Samuel Sifuentes has thrown for 263. Key for the Reapers is if they can maintain that high level of play on the road at a Johnsburg team experiencing a down season but with a strong pedigree.

About the Skyhawks: Johnsburg lost to Rochelle, 35-10, last week. RB Jake Metze is the Skyhawks’ go-to player with 256 rushing yards and an area-best 30 receptions for 285 yards. … QB Luke Conroy has thrown for 604 yards and WR Cade Piggott has 12 catches.

FND Pick: Plano

Sandwich (0-4, 0-1) at Richmond-Burton (4-0, 2-0)

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Last matchup: Richmond-Burton 7, Sandwich 6 (2017)

About the Indians: Sandwich has missed its last two games due to a COVID situation that caused it to forfeit games to both rival Plano and La Salle-Peru. Before the halt, the Indians were having a tough go of things, losing a 42-14 opener against Ottawa and a 58-7 Week 2 matchup at Geneseo. When things are going right, though, Sandwich does feature the type of offense — a wing-T led in the opening two weeks by RBs Seven Tornga and Austin Marks as well as QB Austin Sinetos — designed to churn up clock and keep powerful offenses like Richmond-Burton’s off the field. The Indians should be rested, but likely rusty.

About the Rockets: The No. 3 team in Class 4A in the latest Associated Press state poll, Richmond-Burton had been absolutely demolishing opponents to the tune of a 144-7 cumulative score through three weeks, running its overall win streak to 24 games. Then came last week, when Sandwich’s rival, Plano, very nearly defused the Rockets, ultimately falling in a 21-14 thriller. RB Steven Siegel (113 yards vs. the Reapers) and two-way standout RB/LB Brock Wood (133 yards, two TDs, game-clinching fumble recovery against Plano) provide one of the state’s top 1-2 rushing attacks, while defensively the Rockets have allowed just three touchdowns so far this season.

FND pick: Richmond-Burton

-- JT Pedelty

Steve Soucie and Joe Stevenson contributed to these previews