Lake Park (3-4, 3-3 DuPage Valley) @ No. 11 Neuqua Valley (6-1, 5-1 DuPage Valley), 7:30 p.m.
Last week: Lake Park lost to Glenbard North, 42-3; Neuqua Valley won at Wheaton North, 34-17
Storyline: Neuqua Valley is officially in the Class 8A postseason field after last week’s 34-17 triumph at Wheaton North.
With a pair of 34-point games each of the past two weeks in tow, the Wildcats’ attention now turns towards possibly winning the DVC.
Having Isaiah Robertson in your corner certainly helps.
Robertson caught seven passes for 64 yards and three TDs while Brett Borske caught a pair of TD passes against the Falcons as Jack Stankoven and Owen Piche combined on five touchdown passes.
Robertson has 30 receptions for 399 yards and five touchdowns through seven games while the Western Michigan-bound Borske has matched his 10 catches from last year and has 235 receiving yards and two scores.
Old conference rivals in the Upstate Eight, the Wildcats play the Lancers for the first time since Oct. 12, 2012 when they beat the Lancers, 53-23, on their way to finishing a perfect 9-0 in the regular season.
Awaiting them will be a team that has alternated wins and losses the entire year and is coming of a 42-3 home loss to Glenbard North.
Sandwiched between a pair of 21-point efforts against Wheaton North and Metea Valley in Week 5 and Week 6 for Lake Park were three games where it scored a combined 17 points.
That stretch for the Lancers included getting a 7-0 win at Naperville North and being handed a 10-7 loss by South Elgin.
All the Lancers managed was a field goal against the Panthers and fifth-year coach Chris Roll’s team must win out to reach postseason eligibility.
Even then, that might not be enough as Lake Park was on the outside looking in a year ago despite winning five games in a six-team DVC.
Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus on Lake Park: “They’re different in that they’re throwing the ball a lot more. I feel like in order for them to have a lot of success, they got to complete footballs. That’s tough. That’s tough. Every high school team that has to rely heavily on the pass, I think it has their ups and downs and I think they’re having some ups and downs this year.
“They got a real good defense. They’ve had a good defense. Really even in the past when we used to play them, their defense would be very good. They obviously have their two big guys on the defensive line (Mike and Jacub Panasiuk), who are outstanding football players – the two brothers. The one guy (Mike Panasiuk) obviously has got his full ride to Michigan State, but his brother (Jacub) is good, as well.
“So I think that we have to utilize what’s given us again. That’s what I really feel good about on offense is that we can utilize … we can take what a team is giving us. We can utilize what they’re giving us. We’re going to take whatever a team is giving us, I feel like. I feel like we’re balanced enough to be able to do that.
“Our defense has been playing extremely well. They played extremely well again last Friday and as long as our defense can continue to do what they’ve been doing, we’re going to be in a ballgame.
“I think that the (Lancers) have sputtered a little bit offensively and we don’t have tape on every game, but I think when you have to rely heavily on the pass, it becomes increasingly more difficult to pass.
“The only thing the (Lancers) can do is keep battling and their backs are against the wall, obviously. They don’t know if they’ll have enough playoff points or not, but certainly they’re going to throw everything they have at us.”
