Stillman Valley, Byron, Durand/Pecatonica: Lots of local teams look for big Week 5 wins

At halftime of this week's games, the 2023 IHSA high school football regular season will be halfway over.

However, things in the Big Northern Conference and in the NUIC do not feel even close to half figured out.

More: BNC, NUIC football BNC, NUIC stat leaders and standings after Week 4 of high school football

"It feels like we have a lot of figuring out still to do," North Boone head coach Ryan Kelley said. His team was dismantled 69-0 by Byron last week, and will next host Stillman Valley, the team that shared the BNC title with Byron last year. "We look sharp one week, and not the next... Of course, your opponent has something to say about that. And this week will be another tough one for us, but we want to see some improvement."

Here is a look at that game, and two more of the important Week 5 BNC matchups, as well as another in the NUIC:

Stillman Valley (3-1) at North Boone (2-2)

Last season Stillman Valley opened with a 15-7 overtime thriller of a win against the then defending Class 3A champion Byron Tigers. This season they opened with a 28-14 loss to Dixon.

But the Cardinals have bounced back with three straight resounding wins, scoring 49, 48 and then 49 again in the blowouts of Rock Falls, Lutheran and Rockford Christian. This week they will get their biggest test since Week 1 when they face a North Boone spread attack that was grounded to a halt by Byron last week.

This week, the Vikings are looking to right the ship. Stillman Valley stands in the way.

"We obviously need to clean up some things and execute better than we did last week," Kelley said. "Stillman Valley is always a well-coached team that's very disciplined, and always solid. We'll have our hands full. But we really need to bounce back."

Byron (4-0) at Oregon (2-2)

Byron has outscored its first four foes 280-20, and 64 points is the lowest the Tigers have scored in a game. Now it's Oregon's turn to see what they can do.

The Hawks opened with a promising 6-0 overtime win over North Boone, and then last week took down Winnebago 27-6. They have been nearly as impressive in their losses as well. They fell to undefeated Dixon 29-20 in Week 2 but were within reach the whole night, and lost by six to Genoa-Kingston on Sept. 8 in another game that they were in until the end.

Oregon running back Logan Weems is second in the league with 448 yards to go along with his five TDs. Weems is going to need a huge game to keep Byron's offense off the field this Friday. No one has come even close to doing it yet.

Rockford Christian (0-4) at Rock Falls (0-4)

I wouldn't normally suggest keeping an eye on a game with two teams that are a combined 0-8. However, Rockford Christian has such a fun and explosive offense this season, the Royal Lions are just fun to watch whether they are winning or losing. And this week they should be winning. This will be the only week they will be favored to win.

It will also be a chance for quarterback Jaden Williams and some of the other talented players on this offense to shine. Williams leads the BNC with 896 passing yards and six touchdowns.

Durand/Pecatonica (4-0) at Galena (2-2)

Du/Pec, led by QB Cooper Hoffman and a quickly growing passing attack, also has quite a defense this season. The Rivermen are on the heels of three straight shutouts as they head to Galena, where they face an offense that has sputtered the past two weeks. Galena scored 28 and 49 points to open the season but had just 16 and 20 the past two weeks in back-to-back losses.

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Teams like Stillman Valley and Durand/Pecatonica hunt down key wins