Football: Raiders Make Downstate Trek to Take On Belleville East

Antonio Morrison, perhaps the football team's best player, will have his hands full tonight.

Morrison, a linebacker and anchor of the Raiders's defense, will be up against one of the best offensive lines and running backs in the St. Louis-area as travels south to take on Belleville East High School.

The Raiders (1-0) won their season opener last week in a . In that game, Bolingbrook quarterback Aaron Bailey tossed three touchdown passes and ran for another while accumulating 181 passing yards.

Sounds impressive, right?

Not if you're Belleville East, which posted an equally impressive win against Hazelwood West in the opening game of its 2011 campaign. 

ReShawn Bean, the Lancers' 6-foot, 188-pound senior running back, ran for a career-high 186 yards and four touchdowns in Belleville East's 35-7 win over Hazelwood West.

The Lancers (1-0) figure to take advantage of Bean and an experienced offensive line again tonight. 

"(The offensive line), I hope, can be our strong suit," East coach Tim Funk told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "They're going to be pretty good, I think, and people are going to have to probably adjust and stop us from (running the ball). I was proud of the kids today. They did a good job and we came out and did what we needed to do."

That's where Morrison comes in. Morrison, who leads a physical and tenacious Bolingbrook defense, is widely regarded as one of the best defensive players in the country. Plugging the gaps and finding the ball will be key.

But there's another reason the Lancers will likely use Bean early and often: to keep the Bolingbrook offense off the field. 

"The only way I think we can contain (Bailey) is by keeping him on the sideline,'' Funk told the Belleville News-Democrat. "If he's out on the field and they're controlling the ball and moving the chains, then it's going to be a long night for us. We have to keep their offense off the field if we want to have any kind of success at all.''

Last season, the Raiders fell to the Lancers 31-8.

Check back with Bolingbrook Patch tonight and throughout the weekend for updates on the game.