Bring it on: Area teams ready for playoffs
Saturday's IHSA playoff pairings selection was more interesting than in years past and created drama up and down the eight-class system. First, the IHSA (at the request of the Chicago Public League) allowed the top two teams in each of the Chicago conferences into the playoffs instead of the usual one, creating more teams.
Then on Friday afternoon, one automatic playoff qualifier (Hope Academy) and one bubble team (Watseka) informed the IHSA that they would not participate in the postseason.
(Heather Eidson/Staff Photographer)
These developments put many playoff-eligible teams on edge, as well as shuffled the number of schools in several classes. Heading into Friday's games, the IHSA projected Marmion, Oswego and Geneva all in Class 6A.
But the only school to actually change in class this year was 2008 Class 4A runner-up Aurora Christian, as the Eagles are in 3A this year while Sandwich (5-4) was left at home despite being eligible.
Even though Geneva remained in 7A, the 6A bracket carried some intrigue anyway.
Marmion and Oswego were slotted in opposite brackets, yet the differences between the two groupings were somewhat surprising.
Marmion (8-2) was awarded the No. 2 seed in the lower bracket of 6A. The Cadets will host No. 15 Huntley (5-4).
"Each week is a new week of the season and that's all we're going to look at this as," Marmion coach Dan Thorpe said. "Being home is very, very important. That's extremely important. That's what the kids worked for and beating Montini (on Friday) allowed us to get that."
Oswego (7-2) was seeded 10th in the upper bracket of 6A and will have a long road trip ahead of it -- the Panthers travel to No. 7 Bloomington (8-1).
"We can compete with anybody in 6A and we're just going to have to take the steps to prepare our kids," Panthers coach Dave Keely said.
Nine of the 16 teams in the Panthers' bracket finished with at least eight wins, and 12 had at least seven while only one finished 5-4 (No. 16 Oak Lawn). Included in the upper bracket are perennial powers Richards, Providence, Lemont and Morgan Park.
In the lower bracket, only Marmion and No. 1 Cary Grove (9-0) finished with at least eight wins.
"It seems like we got tossed south and I'm not sure why," Keely said. "And boy, if you look at both brackets, they're really different. If you take a look at the records, there are big discrepancies. It must have been done by proximity, but I'm not sure what the (IHSA's) logic was."
Aurora Christian (6-3), the Suburban Christian Gold conference champion, is seeded fifth in the Class 3A lower bracket and will travel to No. 4 Winnebago (7-2).
Plano (6-3) is seeded ninth in Class 4A. The Reapers will travel to No. 8 Geneseo (7-2) as part of the lower bracket, and the teams share a bit of history. The Maple Leafs, who have won four state titles, were coached by Bob Reade from 1962 to 1978 after he left Plano. Reade was the coach for three straight state championships in his last three years, and the Reapers will play on Bob Reade Field on Friday or Saturday.
"There is quite a history there," Plano coach Jim Green said. "And you could call Bob Reade my mentor. We're very familiar with each other. Geneseo is one of the teams we had in mind (and) we thought it would be them."
Green said Class 4A was one of the brackets affected by the added schools, as many contestants were 5A schools last year.
Prior to Kaneland's season-ending victory against Yorkville, coach Tom Fedderly had hoped a 6-3 record would get the Knights a home game in the first round of Class 5A -- and he was right. The No. 8 Knights will host No. 9 Sycamore (6-3). The Knights beat the Spartans 21-14 in Week 4. Defending Class 5A champion St. Francis (7-2) is the fifth seed and is in the Knights' bracket.
Geneva (8-1), Class 7A runner-up was seeded third in the upper bracket and will host No. 6 Shepard (7-2). Should the Vikings win, they will probably face No. 2 Wheaton Warrenville South (8-1) in the second round in Wheaton. No. 4 St. Rita (7-2) would be a potential third-round opponent.
Waubonsie Valley (6-3), the lone Class 8A playoff team in The Beacon-News' coverage area, was seeded 10th and will travel to No. 7 Downers Grove South (7-2) in the upper bracket of the class.
Mooseheart (5-4) made it into the Class 1A field as an at-large qualifier because of their 40 playoff points. The Red Ramblers competed in new Northeastern Athletic conference this season and five of the league's 10 teams qualified for the postseason.
"There was enthusiasm about the first year of the conference and the make up of the conference, that we'd have the potential to be a very strong football conference," Red Ramblers coach Gary Urwiler said. "Usually your stronger conferences are further down south in 1A football and it's just a joy to say we can be considered one of the premier conferences in the state in 1A."
Mooseheart is seeded eighth in the lower bracket after losing three straight to end the regular season. But in its first-round contest at top-seeded Dakota (9-0), the Red Ramblers have another lease on life.
"We're not playing our best football right now and we're going to try to work on that and figure out what's going on," Urwiler said. "But anytime you have one more shot at it and try to figure it out and hopefully put some of the pieces together and make it work again, it's definitely appreciated."
CLASS 1A
(Lower Bracket)
No. 8 Mooseheart (5-4) at No. 1 Dakota (9-0)
CLASS 3A
(Lower Bracket)
No. 5 Aurora Christian (6-3) at No. 4 Winnebago (7-2)
CLASS 4A
(Lower Bracket)
No. 9 Plano (6-3) at No. 8 Geneseo (7-2)
CLASS 5A
(Lower Bracket)
No. 9 Sycamore (6-3) at No. 8 Kaneland (6-3)
CLASS 6A
(Upper Bracket)
No. 10 Oswego (7-2) at No. 7 Bloomington (8-1)
(Lower Bracket):
No. 15 Huntley (5-4) at No. 2 Marmion Academy (8-1)
CLASS 7A
(Upper Bracket)*
No. 6 Shepard (7-2) at No. 3 Geneva (8-1)
(Lower Bracket)
No. 12 St. Charles North (6-3) at No. 5 South Elgin (7-2)
No. 9 Hononegah (7-2) at No. 8 St. Charles East (7-2)
CLASS 8A
(Upper Bracket)
No. 10 Waubonsie Valley (6-3) at No. 7 Downers Grove South (7-2)
The IHSA will announce dates and times for first-round games on Monday at 3 p.m. For a complete look at all the brackets, visit IHSA.org
*The Class 7A upper bracket was divided into two halves to reduce travel time.
