Elgin, Bartlett set to collide in game of the week

Updated: September 1, 2011 9:36PM

Two of the area’s top players will collide Friday at Millennium Field when senior standout Dennis Moore and his Elgin teammates travel to play Bartlett and senior quarterback A.J. Bilyeu.

Moore played a leading role for the Maroons last week as they beat Dundee-Crown 34-19 in their season opener. The 5-foot-10, 185-pounder ran for 181 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. in the triumph His exploits also included running back a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, making five tackles as a defensive back and kicking four extra points.

“Obviously we’ve got to stop Moore,” Bartlett coach Tom Meaney said. “He’s an excellent running back that can really run and make people miss. We saw four or five times where five kids or more missed him on the play.”

The Hawks will be trying to bounce back from a heartbreaking 26-24 loss at Wheaton North last week. An 18-yard touchdown pass for the Falcons as time expired proved to be the difference as Bartlett came up short in a matchup of two of the top teams in the western suburbs.

Bilyeu, who committed to Air Force during the summer, completed 15 of 26 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown in the defeat. Although the 6-3, 185-pounder is a serious threat with his arm, Elgin’s first priority will be stopping a formidable Bartlett ground attack that Bilyeu led last week with 72 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

“(Bilyeu) is a great quarterback and he’ll run a little bit too,” Elgin coach Dave Bierman said. “They do a good job throwing the ball, but at the same time, if you don’t stop the run that’s all you’re going to see.”

This is the first meeting between the School District U46 foes since 2008. Bartlett beat Elgin seven straight times from 2002-08 and owns a 7-4 lead in the all-time series.

Senior receiver Zach Karys, senior tight end Lorenzo Mitchell and sophomore running back James Butler are among the other offensive leaders for the Hawks, who have lofty expectations after finishing 8-3 last year.

Bartlett will be without senior running back Nate Odisho, who is out for the season after tearing a hamstring in last week’s game. Odisho missed most of his junior season with a broken ankle.

Among the goals for Elgin will be to play with more composure after being flagged nine times for 95 penalty yards last week. Bierman said the Maroons will also try to be more balanced on offense after calling on senior quarterback Devin Simon to attempt only four passes last week.

Elgin, which advanced to the playoffs last year for the first time since 2001, expects some reinforcements tonight after having only 26 players active for last week’s game. Bierman said the roster is up to 37 players after a group that didn’t have enough practices last week became eligible to suit up in a game.

“That increases our depth quite a bit,” Bierman said. “Our kids did a great job last week, but it would be nice to get them off the field once in a while. Against Bartlett we’re going to need to do that because obviously they’re a good ballclub.”

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