Wildcat? Traditional QB? Both? No matter what, Durand/Pecatonica football rolls on

Last week, AJ Mulcahy played both the role of halfback and quarterback for the Durand/Pecatonica football team.

And Mulcahy did did it well, rushing 16 times for 235 yards and five touchdowns in 53-6 win over West Carroll while taking the snaps out of the Wildcat formation.

Mulcahy is a running back, however, not a quarterback.

And West Carroll was the kind of opponent you could pull that off against. This week — as Du/Pec gets set for one of its toughest tests of the year on the road at Forreston — they know they may just need to use all the weapons they have, and use an old-fashioned quarterback.

Best of Week 1: Read about Mulcahy and all of last week's top performers right here.

They will. They're just not letting anybody know which one it will be yet.

"We're kind of keeping that under wraps until Friday night," Du/Pec coach Tyler Hoffman said of who will be his starting quarterback. "We liked what we had there last week, and knew we could probably go with it ... But with Forreston coming up, this is different. This will take everything we've got."

First big game of the year

Hoffman, Mulcahy and Du/Pec will look to keep things rolling at Forreston on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Both teams pounded on weaker squads in the openers, but this is one that both NUIC-title-hopefuls feel they need to get early on in the season.

"A win in this kind of game can really solidify that we're here," Mulcahy said. "This one just might wake the conference up."

Du/Pec won its first conference title last year. But the big question headed into this season still remains a question heading into the Week 2 showdown: Who will come out at quarterback for the Rivermen? Will it be sophomore Cooper Hoffman — the younger brother of last year's star QB Hunter Hoffman, and son of coach Tyler Hoffman — or senior Will Howard? Or will it be a combination of the two, with a sprinkling of Wildcat thrown in?

Coach Hoffman insists both QBs have had their moments in the preseason and leading up to the Week 2 matchup. But he's not ready to make an announcement on which one earned the starting nod, mostly because of the stakes involved in this game.

"This is just one of those great Week 2 matchups," Coach Hoffman said, before finishing his answer about when he will announce his starting QB. "We'll let you know, sometime after 7 o'clock on Friday,"

Forreston will be 'ready for anything'

Forreston's Johnny Kobler pounded the ball mostly inside for 120 yards on 12 carries, scoring twice to lead the Cardinals to the opening win last week. Kobler is a converted offensive linemen whose now the starting fullback, and at 6 foot 2, 225 pounds, he was a load to bring down in Week 1 as Forreston steamrolled Stockton 44-14.

"That one really felt good," Forreston coach Keynon Janicke said of last week's dominant win. "But this is going be a tough week. Because we have a tough opponent, and we have some tricky preparation."

That would be because they're not quite sure who will be playing quarterback for their opponent, and what type of offense they will run.

"We don't know who they will play at quarterback, and will find out with everybody else on Friday night," Janicke said. "But we're not going to do anything crazy anyway. We're ready for anything."

Repeat of last year, or not?

Forreston fumbled on the second play of the second game last year, and turned the ball over three more times as Du/Pec cruised to the 28-0 win. Quarterback Hunter Hoffman led the Rivermen with 154 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns.

The Cardinals knocked off Stockton 44-14 last week, rushing for 451 yards with two backs going over 100 yards and four backs reaching the end zone. But they were coming off a 38-14 win over Stockton in Week 1 just before that dismal game against Du/Pec last year, when the Rivermen held Forreston to a season-low 134 rushing yards.

Forreston bounced back from that setback to win seven of the next eight games last year. They are hoping they don't need that kind of rebound this time.

"We know what happened last year, and we're determined not to let it happen again," Janicke said. "Last year we talked about how a loss can be a good thing and can get you going sometimes. Well, we don't want to lose. Nobody wants to lose. ... And we're coming off of last week with some confidence. So let's go see what we can do."

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, for more than 20 years at the Register Star, and for nearly 30 years all together. He was a four-sport athlete himself, and is the father of five that went on to be jocks of some kind as well.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA football: Durand/Pecatonica football looks to keep soaring