Lake Park (2-3, 2-2 DuPage Valley) @ Metea Valley (2-3, 2-3 DuPage Valley), 7:30PM
Last week: Lake Park lost to Wheaton North, 23-21; Metea Valley beat Waubonsie Valley, 19-7
Storyline: Its first-ever victory over Waubonsie Valley now in tow, Metea Valley returns home to meet Lake Park for the first time since the two programs were in the Upstate Eight Conference.
How the Mustangs deal with that win going forward will have lots of bearing in terms of where the rest of their 2015 season goes.
But the spark Amiri Finner provided against the Warriors, a 15-yard TD run and a 92-yard kickoff return for a TD, and Maurice Burkley’s 79 yards on 18 carries to offer support behind quarterback Conner Lovely is promising.
Also promising is a defense that’s keeping Metea Valley competitive as it has allowed just 21 combined points the last two weeks after holding Naperville Central to seven first-half points in Week 3 before eventually losing 27-7.
Finner and linebacker John Mathison lead Matt Fehrmann’s defensive charges with 50 and 42 tackles, respectively.
Reggie Hill’s interception in the end zone of Waubonsie Valley QB Jack Connolly late in the third quarter helped keep the Mustangs up 13-7 and Lovely’s fourth-quarter TD run finished matters.
Meanwhile, Lake Park has alternated wins and losses all year and come in under .500 after last week’s home loss to Wheaton North.
Lancers’ QB Jaron Fields ran for two touchdowns while throwing a 65-yard TD pass to Anthony Marino to give them a 14-7 lead over the Falcons.
But the Falcons countered by scoring the next 16 points to take a 23-14 lead before Fields’ 17-yard TD run closed out the scoring.
Lake Park leads the all-time series with Metea Valley, 3-0, as it has averaged 32 points in the three games – including a pair of 35-point games in 2011 and 2012.
Metea Valley coach Ben Kleinhans on Lake Park: “They’re very similar to us in a long of ways. We have the same record as each other. We probably both feel like we should have won at least one more game so far, played some close games with some teams. I think they’re pretty athletic offensively but maybe not have put up as many points as they probably think they should be putting up. (Fields) is one of the better quarterbacks we’ve seen, I think – just all-around playmaker, can throw and run. (They have) a good tailback and a couple good receivers on the outside.
“Defensively, obviously, they have the two (Panasiuk) brothers there on the defensive line. The kid (Mike Panasiuk) going to Michigan State – his younger brother (Jacub), who plays end, is very good, too. So their strength is their defensive front on defense. Those kids, they’re going to be tough to handle. We got our work cut out for us there.
“(Mike Panasiuk) is just the whole package. They do a good job of moving him around, so he’s not always playing in the same spot. So you really got to know where he’s at at all times. At times, he looks like a man amongst boys out there, just the way he plays. So we got to account for him wherever he’s at and you can’t let him affect too many plays.
“I just think they’re a better football team. You talk to Coach Roll and I’ve heard him say that making the switch to the DVC has made his program better. So they just look like a DVC team. They play solid football. They’re big. They’re physical. They play great defense. They tackle well. They’re good on special teams and all those characteristics you’re finding in the DVC – they’ve become one of those teams. So it’s just another good team on our schedule, just like we have every week.”
