Chicago-Area High School Football News and Scores | Season Pass

St. Edward enters a stretch of four straight Suburban Christian crossover games with its back against the wall.

The Green Wave needs four wins in the final six weeks of the regular season to have a chance of qualifying for the playoffs. Two of those remaining contests come against SCC Blue powerhouses Marian Central and St. Francis in Weeks 8 and 9, so St. Edward would be well served to take advantage of its upcoming four-game stretch against opponents from the less competitive SCC Gold.

That task is easier said than done, though, particularly with the Green Wave’s next game coming Friday against undefeated Immaculate Conception in the Courier-News Season Pass Spotlight Game of the Week on highschoolcube.com. Nonetheless, expect St. Edward to be up to the challenge as it looks to end a two-game losing streak.

“Make no mistake about it, the pressure is on,” St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. “The kids know that if they want to have any realistic discussion about getting five wins and getting in the playoffs, we need to start winning this Friday.”

Immaculate Conception (3-0) hasn’t faced as difficult a schedule through its first three games as St. Edward (1-2), but it has had no trouble dominating its competition.

The Knights outscored their first three opponents 149-12. They moved up to No. 7 in the AP Class 4A state poll after last week’s 33-0 win against Aurora Central Catholic.

Senior QB Demetrius Carr leads Immaculate Conception’s high-powered option attack. He has thrown for 307 yards and four touchdowns and run for 232 yards and six touchdowns.

“(Immaculate Conception) is very explosive offensively and their line pushes really well,” Rolando said. “Demetrius Carr is a great talent who can throw the ball well and run the ball well. We kind of have to prepare for everything this week.”

St. Edward is coming off a 49-16 loss against Marmion last week. Junior running back Davontae Elam missed the game with a toe injury and several other players were ailed by a flu bug.

Elam, who ran for 225 yards and three touchdowns in the Green Wave’s first two games, is expected to be back in action against the Knights. The flu bug has also passed, so Rolando plans to have all 20 of his varsity regulars ready to go as St. Edward tries to beat Immaculate Conception for a third straight time.

“We do have the talent among our main 15 to 19 kids to be good,” Rolando said. “We just don’t have a lot of depth, so we need everybody to be healthy and play 100 percent.”