Mt. Carmel travels to St. Rita this Friday...

...in what could very well be the Game of the Week in Illinois high school football. While No. 1 Wheaton Warrenville South will host No. 10 Wheaton North and No. 13 Stevenson will play at No. 4 Lake Zurich, the 88th contest between the No. 14 Caravan and the No. 3 Mustangs will determine first place in the Catholic League Blue, arguably the state's best conference.

Mt. Carmel has dominated St. Rita over the years (57-28-2), beginning with a 7-0 shutout in their first meeting in 1924. But the Mustangs have gotten the better of the Caravan in their last two contests, 54-18 last year and 35-21 in 2008.

For Mt. Carmel to win, Coach Frank Lenti's squad must find a way to stop the one-two punch of St. Rita's offense -- running backs Jahwon Akui and Travis Starks. Akui rushed for 204 yards and scored five touchdowns in last year's meeting in which the Mustangs scored their most points ever against the Caravan. This year, Starks has averaged an impressive 12.6 yards per carry in the first four games.

St. Rita's defense is also strong, notching two shutouts against Portage (Indiana) and Brother Rice.

But on Friday Coach Todd Kuska's Mustangs will have to contain Mt. Carmel running back Michael Banks (above), who averaged 16.4 yards per carry in his first four outings and may be the best athlete on either team.

The Caravan offense, led by quarterback Chris Sujka, has scored 193 points through five games, including 31 against Loyola's notoriously stingy defense.

Friday's meeting should be one for the ages. I predict a Mt. Carmel victory.