Naperville Sun football notebook

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:08PM

After a week away from conference play, Benet (3-2, 0-2 East Suburban Catholic) travels to face the highly-ranked Corsairs on Friday.

Benet coach Pat New is hopeful that he'll have his starting quarterback, junior Nick Mankowski, back for the game.

Mankowski sprained his right ankle late in the Redwings' 35-31 loss at Notre Dame on Sept. 17 and was replaced by senior T.J. Rickert.

Prior to sustaining the injury, Mankowski was 14 of 24 passing for 212 yards and two touchdowns - both to Connor Nelligan - against the Dons.

Aided by 192 yards and two touchdowns from running back E.J. Howe, Rickert helped lead the Redwings to a 35-14 victory over Glenbard South last Friday, breaking a two-game losing streak.

Rickert connected with Nelligan for a touchdown late in the win and should he continue to produce effective results, New left open the possibility of rotating both quarterbacks.

"I have tremendous confidence in T.J. I think he's gonna rise up and do a nice job," he said. "He's very confident. He leads the team like a senior would. … If T.J. is lights-out, then we may have a decision on our hands. We'll address that when we get to that road."

Metea Valley preparing for second rivalry game

After nearly upsetting Waubonsie Valley before eventually falling to the Warriors, 21-20, last Friday, Metea Valley's focus shifts to its other District 204 foe - Neuqua Valley.

The Mustangs (1-4, 1-2 Upstate Eight Valley) play host to the 3-2 Wildcats, who are coming off a 21-14 defeat to undefeated South Elgin, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

With both rivalry games in consecutive weeks, there's no place for an emotional letdown after coming up just short on the road against Waubonsie.

"I'm more upset that we had to play South Elgin, Waubonsie, Neuqua, Bartlett, Lake Park back-to-back-to-back-to-back," Metea coach Ted Monken said. "You'd like to squeak somebody in there that we can beat. These are all good teams. If our conference is gonna be good, if we're ever gonna start sending people consistently down state or deep in the playoffs, it's gotta be a tough, tough conference. If there's ever a week off where we're not getting the job done, then we're hurting our conference as a whole."

LaCosse, Randolph go over 100-yard mark for 3rd time

Naperville North senior QB Matt LaCosse and Naperville Central junior running back Matt Randolph each went over 100 yards rushing for the third time this season in their respective games last Friday.

LaCosse ran for 119 yards and scored both of the Huskies' touchdowns in their 41-13 loss at No. 1 Wheaton Warrenville South.

Meanwhile, Randolph continues to gain traction on the ground after going through Glenbard East's defense for 198 yards and two touchdowns in Central's 34-14 victory.

LaCosse has run for 583 yards and seven touchdowns while Randolph has garnered 612 yards to go with seven TDs of his own.

The two can compare notes this Friday when the two 3-2 teams meet at North Central College at 7:30 p.m.

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