Bartlett (3-3, 2-2 Upstate Eight Valley) @ Neuqua Valley (4-2, 4-0 Upstate Eight Valley), 7:30PM.
Last week: Bartlett beat Glenbard East, 23-20 (OT); Neuqua Valley won at West Aurora, 48-35
Storyline: Winners of four straight games and tied atop the Upstate Eight Valley standings with Waubonsie Valley, Neuqua Valley welcomes Bartlett to town Friday night.
Dominick Muoghalu’s 97 yards and three touchdowns paced a Wildcats’ offensive attack that put up 355 total yards in their 48-point output last week at West Aurora.
Broc Rutter was his efficient self in completing 10 of his 17 passes against the Blackhawks while throwing three touchdown passes to three receivers, keeping up a trend he established the week before in a big win over East Aurora.
Allowing a season-high 35 points on defense in the 13-point road triumph in Aurora, Neuqua Valley has one more week to get gaps filled before matching wits with Waubonsie Valley’s explosive option attack next week at North Central College.
Meanwhile, the Hawks enter week 7 at .500 both overall and in the division after snapping a two-game losing streak with their 23-20, overtime victory over Glenbard East last week.
Brenner Wallace led Bartlett to the three-point win against the Rams despite throwing three interceptions and will have to be much sharper in going up against the high-powered Wildcats’ offense.
Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus on Bartlett: “I think when you look at Bartlett, No. 1—you got to be able to stop the run and you have to be able to establish the run and Bartlett does a very good job of stopping the run. Their defense has been stingy all year long. I would say that their defense has been strong. Because of that, we really have to work hard to establish a run game. That’s what we’ve been doing all week and that’s what we continue to work on.”
