Even though high school football games have been known as a Friday night tradition, Evanston will take on the Bulldogs in a rare Saturday game on Oct. 11.

“We’ve struggled in the past to play during the day so hopefully we won’t have that issue this year,” said head coach Mike Burzawa.

After much praise for the defense in the first half of the season, games against Niles West and GBS have shown that there is still much room for improvement.

“Waukegan has a very physical football team and a three year starting quarterback who’s also a Division-I running back,” said Burzawa. Senior quarterback Melvin Bobo is the number one guy for the Bulldogs and will be a dual threat when playing Evanston. Locking him down would be key to seal a victory.

Last year Evanston shut down the Waukegan offense and only allowed six points under the lights at home. Certainly the atmosphere will be different playing during the day and far from home.

However, junior quarterback Matt Little and the rest of the offense have proved that they can put lots of points on the board after a slow start to the season.

“I feel great gaining chemistry with my wide receivers Rei Gaines and Brandon Hilliard,” Little said. “They connect with most of the passes I throw even if it’s bad throw.”

Senior wide out Brandon Hilliard has found his role of the team as a prolific scorer. Hilliard set the school record for most touchdowns in the homecoming game versus Niles West with six, and almost a seventh if a holding penalty hadn’t been called at the end of the first half.

The following Thursday night, the Kits headed to GBS in a rainy, two-day affair, the Kits defense went down hard again. They let up 28 points in the first quarter, and the final score was 49-28.

The young Wildkit defense needs to step up if Evanston plans on making the state playoffs this year.

“Defense is our key for every game. We have built our team around defense,” said Burzawa.