Five football games to watch for the Aurora area in Week 7

West Aurora (1-5, 1-3) at No. 7 Waubonsie Valley (6-0, 4-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday

Last year: Did not play.

Key players: West Aurora — QB Johnathon Doyle, LB/RB Daquan Cross. Waubonsie Valley — LB Max Ihry, DL Adam Ziminski.

Outlook: Junior Max Ihry (71 tackles, five forced fumbles, four interceptions) helps lead a Warrior defense that gives West Aurora coach Nate Eimer plenty of concern, even though Waubonsie has had to eke out back-to-back one-point wins over Glenbard East (28-27) and Metea Valley (38-37) in Upstate Eight Valley play. “I think they’re getting everyone’s best shot,” Eimer said. RB T.J. Jackson and DL Zack Vacca both remained sidelined after leaving last week’s game with concussions.

De La Salle (1-5, 0-2) at Marmion (4-2, 1-1), 7:30 p.m. Friday

Last year: Did not play.

Key players: De La Salle — QB Tom Duddleston, WR Ronald Seals; Marmion — OL/DL Luke Juriga, QB Rusty Joyce.

Outlook: Cadets coach Dan Thorpe feels it would be foolish to look past the Meteors. “They’re the best 1-5 team in the state,” he said. “They’ve scored 30, 30, 37 and 57 points and got beat in all of them except the 57-point game (vs. Round Lake). They’re throwing all the time and I’ve never seen a high school quarterback so accurate in my 33 years of coaching. Every pass is within the frame of the body and he’s got athletic receivers.” In contrast, Thorpe is very concerned about his struggling offense, which has scored just 17, 7 and 13 points the last three games. He calls this Catholic Green battle a must win, with Aurora Christian and Montini remaining on the schedule. “We will not get in (the playoffs) with 5-4, we won’t have enough points,” Thorpe said.

Glenbard South (4-2, 2-0) at Aurora Central (5-1, 1-1), 7:15 p.m. Friday

Last year: Did not play.

Key players: Glenbard South — WR/CB Jack Curtis, LB Andre Steiger; ACC — RB Roman Padilla, LB Sam Keilty.

Outlook: Sophomore RB Sean Cooke (120 yards rushing) headlined a strong ground game for the Raiders in last week’s win over Wheaton Academy that kept them tied with Riverside-Brookfield atop the new Metro Suburban West standings. They won the conference last year. “(Jack) Curtis is an athlete who plays on both sides of the ball and is capable of making big plays,” ACC coach Brian Casey said. “He also returns kicks and punts. They also have eight starters back on defense. They’re aggressive and fast; we have to be smart in how we attack ‘em.”

Oswego (5-1, 4-0) at Plainfield East (5-1, 3-1), 7 p.m. Friday

Last year: Oswego won 20-0.

Key players: Oswego — DB Isaiah Richardson, DE Brennan Burdo. Plainfield East — RB Jake Mayon, DE Daniel Jackson.

Outlook: Preseason pundits thought this might be a battle of Southwest Prairie Conference unbeatens, but East stumbled in Week 5, losing 27-26 to Plainfield North. “It’s not gonna be easy, it’s gonna be tough. Their defense is legit, they were heavy with juniors last year and made the playoffs. They look darn good. It could be for all the marbles in the conference, who knows?” Oswego coach Brian Cooney said.

Morris (2-4, 0-2) at Kaneland (2-4, 0-3), 7:15 p.m. Friday

Last year: Kaneland won 49-14.

Key players: Morris — QB Griffin Sobol, RB Jake Walker; Kaneland — QB Jacke Marczuk, WR Connor Fedderly.

Outlook: Two teams with a rich playoff tradition needing to win out over the final three weeks to get into the postseason meet in a Northern Illinois Big 12 East matchup. Three of the Redskins’ losses have been by a total of nine points, three of the Knights’ losses by a total of 11. Two defensive starters, linebacker Robbie Meucci and defensive back Josh Hulbert, return to the lineup this week for Morris.