Jay Schwab and Kevin Druley wrap up the prep football season that was in the final episode of the year of Chronicle Football Insider.

You can watch the video by clicking here.

This week on Chronicle Football Insider, Jay Schwab and Kevin Druley take a quick look back at Geneva and Marmion's second-round losses and then get into the upcoming playoff match between St. Charles North and Glenbard West.

You can watch the video by clicking here.

St. Charles North boys basketball coach Tom Poulin wore his North Stars hoops polo to football practice Monday, trying to save a few minutes during a hectic day.

For the first time in program history, the North football team's season has overlapped boys basketball, as coach Mark Gould's gridders prepare to travel to Glenbard West for an IHSA Class 7A quarterfinal at 1 p.m. Saturday. Poulin, an assistant in charge of special teams, was at football practice in the afternoon before ringing in the first basketball tryout later Monday night.

"Tom's pulling double duty, yes he is," Gould said. "He's got to switch hats real quick. We're glad we can put him into that situation."

Poulin said he didn't mind the extra work and was looking forward to balancing both sports. He added that a few football players in addition to returner Josh Mikes were considering playing basketball, including 6-foot-7 right guard Ryan Brown and 6-foot-4 receiver Jeff Stolzenburg.
 

The St. Charles North football team will play its third Saturday game in four weeks when it travels to Glenbard West for an IHSA Class 7A quarterfinal playoff game this week. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m., North coach Mark Gould confirmed Sunday.

The 12th-seeded team in the lower bracket, North defeated South Elgin, 28-16, in the first round before topping Elk Grove Village, 20-14, in the second round this past Friday. Top-seeded Glenbard West, undefeated at 11-0, boasts playoff victories against Rockford Guilford (28-0) and Rockton Hononegah (27-14).

North (8-3) is making the first quarterfinal appearance in program history.

St. Charles North senior guard Kiley Hackbarth verbally committed to Rhode Island this weekend, ending the suspense of her college search early.

New North Stars coach Colleen Brennan has only watched the guard in action during summer competition and one week of practices, but certainly can't fault the Atlantic-10 school's interest in Hackbarth.

"Her dedication, her focus, her leadership is unbelievable to me," Brennan said Sunday. "Her presence on the court – I've just never seen anything like it."

North senior Dana Sibley, a forward, also recently chose a school, committing to St. Xavier a few days before practices started.

A trio of Chronicle area athletes who starred in various state competitions as seniors last year turned up as spectators Saturday at the IHSA Boys and Girls Cross Country State Meet.

Among those in the gallery at Peoria's Detweiller Park were Bai Kabba (Batavia track) Andrew Nelson (Geneva cross country and track) and Jay Levita (Kaneland wrestling).

Levita was on hand to watch his younger brother, Joe, run for the Knights, who placed fifth in the Class 2A boys race.

The two-time defending state champion Geneva girls cross country team finished fifth at Saturday's 3A state meet in Peoria.

The Vikings were not expected to win it again after struggling more than they had hoped during the season but Geneva still hoped to pull a surprise on Saturday and earn the three-peat.

No Geneva runners finished in the top 10 individually. Palatine won the title as a team.

For more on the girls and boys cross country state meets, check back at KCChronicle.com tonight.

St. Charles North senior Karlie Giesler verbally committed Friday to play volleyball at Central Arkansas beginning in the fall.

A setter and right-side hitter, Giesler helped the North Stars advance to the IHSA Class 4A Geneva Sectional semifinals. Central Arkansas is an NCAA Division I school located in Conway, Ark., that competes in the Southland Conference, which also includes schools in Louisiana and Texas.

 

As of when the story on Kaneland's Dave Dudzinski selecting Holy Cross for college went to press on Tuesday, Kaneland boys basketball coach Brian Johnson was unaware of any previous Kaneland players who played Division I basketball.

Upon further research, Johnson said Wednesday that Joe Fischer, who played at Kaneland from 1979-82, did play Division I ball. Fischer played at Northern Illinois and the University of Denver, Johnson said.

The St. Charles East girls volleyball cheering section gave host Geneva a run for its money Tuesday night at the IHSA Class 4A Geneva Sectional.

Apart from the giant East banner that hung on a wall well into the Vikings' match against York in the night's second semifinal, a large and loud group of students made the trip to support the Saints, who topped rival St. Charles North for a berth in Thursday's sectional final.

"We had an amazing group of our high school kids and they were all helping our kids get psyched up," Saints coach Jennie Kull said. "That, too, helped our kids have a great performance."

Check out Wednesday's Chronicle for much more on both sectional matches as well as a look at how St. Francis fared in Class 3A sectional play.