Buffalo Grove’s status uncertain after Trey Cervantes injury

BUFFALO GROVE — On the surface, Buffalo Grove’s football team appears to be facing a great deal of adversity following a 49-0 loss to Fremd in Week 4.

But looks can sometimes be deceiving.

The Bison head into Friday’s MSL East opener at Elk Grove with a 2-2 record and without starting quarterback Trey Cervantes, who suffered a broken left arm against the Vikings. While that could pose a huge problem, this is a “glass half full” kind of group.

“Losing Trey is a huge blow for us,” Buffalo Grove coach Mike DiMatteo said. “We’ve only got 37 guys on our roster, but they’re the type of guys who are going to run into the fight. I’m really proud of every one of our players. Win or lose, they’re not going to back down from anyone. The heart and toughness our guys have shown has been incredible.”

DiMatteo said he’s not really sure who his starting quarterback will be this week.

“We’re gonna find out [who that will be],” DiMatteo said. “Right now, I’m not really sure. We have to do some planning.”

There’s a strong chance, however, senior John Maddox (6-foot, 185 pounds) will be named Cervantes’ replacement. He normally plays the Hero position, which is a safety/linebacker hybrid.

“I’m starting at QB next week, need to take next four out of five to make playoffs,” Maddox said in a direct message on Twitter Sept. 21.

Cervantes’ teammates were devastated — but not defeated — when he suffered an injury that could keep him out for the year.

“Even though we lost Trey, we are still extremely optimistic about going into the [MSL] East [schedule],” Bison senior running back Dan Levato said. “We really think we can win some games and have an opportunity to win the conference.”

He may have a point. Out of six MSL East teams, only Hersey has scored more points (46) than they’ve allowed (45). Elk Grove, meanwhile, has just 21 points in three games.

“We’re going to prepare for Elk Grove the way we prepared for every other team we’ve played so far,” Bison senior receiver Mike Kleczynski said. “Practice hard every day and be ready to win on Friday night. We won’t pay attention to how many points they’ve scored. Football is a game where anything could happen on any given day.”

Wheeling (111 points allowed) and Prospect (129 points allowed), who also play in the East, have struggled defensively. DiMatteo said he hopes the fact his club emerged with a .500 record after upsetting MSL West foe Schaumburg — a much larger school — is a sign of good things to come. The Bison narrowly missed stunning MSL West opponent Conant in Week 3.

DiMatteo said he isn’t a fan of the crossover games, and feels those numbers may be deceiving.

“Despite the fact we beat Schaumburg — and I feel most of the MSL East teams feel this way — we have no business playing the West. It’s ridiculous,” DiMatteo said. “Some of the point totals you’re seeing [from MSL East teams] are sort of a reflection of that. I don’t think those numbers are something a lot of people pay much attention to because we have to play those three crossover games against really big schools.

“Had Trey not gotten hurt, I definitely think we would’ve put up points against Fremd, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t know we would’ve been able to score with them. There’s a huge imbalance between the two leagues.”