Tough Q's? They've got the A's: Rockford Auburn's Scholastic Bowl team mixes the brash, the shy and the brainy in just the right measure to contend for the state title.

Byline: Stephanie Banchero

Mar. 17--ROCKFORD -- Ten teenagers perch on the edge of their chairs, black buzzers in hand, heads angled toward the faint voice moderating the Scholastic Bowl. "What is the angular velocity in degrees per second of the minute hand on a clock?" Auburn High School senior Tyler Kerr glances toward the ceiling, calculations whirling in his brain. As other contestants frantically scribble on scraps of paper, Kerr presses the small buzzer in his hand. "Point one degree per second," he answers coolly and correctly. Ten points. Moments later, Auburn senior Colleen Powers ticks off, in rapid-fire quickness, the main characters in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." (Charlie Bucket, Mike Teavee, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde and Augustus Gloop.) Twenty points. When a buzzer-eager Siva Sundaram rings in early during a question about an Oscar-winning composer, his teammates don't mind that he answers "John Williams," instead of "Henry Mancini." Why should they? Auburn already was trouncing its competition. By the end of the regional match, Auburn had clobbered its opponents 447 to 130, helping the Rockford school earn a trip to the annual state Scholastic Bowl championship in Peoria on Saturday. It was an admirable, but not uncommon, performance by a team that appears poised to make a strong run at the Class AA…