Fox Valley football coaches react to pairings

Seven football teams from the northern Fox Valley area learned their playoff fates Saturday night when the IHSA revealed its postseason pairings, but none can be happier about the draw than Crystal Lake South.

The undefeated Gators not only drew a No. 1 seed in a split bracket, they did so after sliding down to Class 6A, thereby avoiding the powder keg that is Class 7A, which contains state heavyweights like East St. Louis, Wheaton Warrenville South, St. Rita and Glenbard West, among others.

“Falling to 6A certainly helps,” said first-year CL South head coach Chuck Ahsmann, who led the program to its 10th straight playoff berth. “(Class) 7A is just loaded with good teams, my goodness. Some of the top ten teams in the state, or most of them, are in 7A.

“And being No. 1 sure helps you. It gives you a little bit easier path.”

The Gators' postseason march begins the same way as the regular season began: with a matchup against Grant (5-4). The No. 16 Bulldogs hosted CL South in the season opener, a game the Gators won 41-12 in Fox Lake.

Another rematch of local note could be in the offing down the road. If seeds hold, the Gators would face a state quarterfinal against crosstown rival Prairie Ridge (8-1). CL South defeated the Wolves, 24-20, in a Week 4 battle between state-ranked teams.

“It would be a huge crowd and that would be awesome, a lot of fun,” Ahsmann said. “But we're going to take the same strategy we had during the year and focus on going 1-0 against Grant. After that, we'll see what happens.”

No. 12 Dunbar (5-4) at No. 5 Bartlett (7-2): Bartlett players and coaches gathered Saturday night for a party at a Bartlett fire station to celebrate the program's return to the Class 8A playoffs after a one-year hiatus.

The Hawks opened the season 1-2 but reeled off 6 straight wins to win a share of a division title in the Upstate Eight Conference as well as the No. 5 seed in the top half of the Class 8A bracket. They make their 10th playoff appearance in 11 seasons.

“The kids were jumping up and down. They're pretty excited,” Bartlett coach Tom Meaney said as the gathering was winding down. “We're excited to be in again. I believe we'll have a good week of practice and we'll be ready for their speed and play well.”

Bartlett and South Elgin share Millennium Field at Streamwood, and both were awarded first-round home games. However, Bartlett will play Friday night and South Elgin will be bumped to Saturday due to Bartlett's head-to-head victory over the Storm during the regular season, Meaney said.

If they advance, the Hawks could face a rematch in Round 2 against Maine South, the school that defeated Bartlett in a Class 8A state semifinal in 2008.

“Maine South, that's a powerhouse, but we'll just play them one game at a time,” Meaney said. “We have a lot of things we haven't even tried yet this year, so it's going to be interesting.”

No. 9 Warren (6-3) at No. 8 South Elgin (6-3): The IHSA awarded South Elgin something the Storm hoped for but didn't necessarily expect: a home game.

South Elgin opened the season 5-0 but dropped 3 of its last 4 games against playoff teams Bartlett, Geneva and Waubonsie Valley. Had they slid one seed further, the Storm would be playing in Gurnee this weekend.

“I really didn't expect to get a home game at 6-3,” coach Dale Schabert said. “It was a tough last four weeks for us. We played some very good opponents three of the last four weeks, and we're hoping that has us ready for next Saturday.”

The fifth-year football program makes its second straight appearance and first in Class 8A. The Storm lost their playoff debut last season to St. Charles North in a Class 7A tilt.

No. 14 Elgin (6-3) at No. 3 Carmel (8-1): Pairings night meant something to the Elgin football program for the first time since 2001, when the Maroons last reached the postseason.

Elgin achieved its primary goal Friday night, when it scored 43 second-half points to beat Metea Valley, 50-14, and secure a spot in the Class 7A tournament. Now comes the task of facing one of the state's best teams as a reward. The Corsairs went 6-0 to win the rugged East Suburban Catholic Conference.

“It's a great challenge,” Elgin coach Dave Bierman said. “But our kids respond when their backs are against the wall. It's great to be in the playoffs. I told our kids after the game (Friday), ‘We've gotten one of our goals. Now what do you want to do?' It's sort of like congratulations, you made it, now let's go.

“Hopefully, we can play well.”

The Maroons and Corsairs played one common opponent: St. Charles East. Carmel crushed the Saints 56-7 in the season opener on Aug. 27. Elgin built a big lead against the Saints two weeks ago and held them off late to win 27-24.

Carmel didn't suffer its first loss of the season until Saturday, when the Corsairs lost 21-14 against Cincinnati-Elder in a game played in Ohio.

No. 12 Jacobs (6-3) at No. 5 Lake Zurich (8-1): When hall-of-famer Bill Mitz took the vacant Jacobs coaching job last February, all he promised was that the Golden Eagles would know how to block and tackle. He said nothing about making the playoffs, but that was the underlying expectation of a coach whose teams had reached the postseason 21 straight years at Stevenson High School.

Make it 22 for Mitz.

“All those other (playoff bids) were great, but this is the one that counts now,” Mitz said after the pairings were announced. “We're beginning a tradition over here. We're extremely excited for our boys and for our community, and we're happy we're playing a team we know close by.”

The playoff appearance is the sixth for Jacobs overall and first since 2006.

Mitz and his staff are familiar with Lake Zurich, a squad they defeated 39-21 last season in North Suburban Conference play while coaching at Stevenson. Stopping the Bears means stopping senior tailback Jacob Brinlee, one of the state's most productive ball carriers.

No. 11 Cary-Grove (6-3) at No. 6 Hubbard (8-1): The defending Class 6A champions won 6 of their last 7 games to reach the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

The Trojans will spend the week getting familiar with the Greyhounds, whose only loss occurred in Week 8 against Morgan Park at Chicago's Gately Stadium.

“I don't know anything about them other than they're typically a very talent-laden team,” Trojans coach Bruce Kay said. “We first have to evaluate Hubbard and see how we want to go about things with them.”

Cary-Grove would host a game in Round 2 against the winner of two city teams, DuSable and Robeson. The Trojans would not face District 155 rivals Crystal Lake South or Prairie Ridge until the state semifinals. The Trojans played Prairie Ridge in a Class 6A semifinal last year.

“The bracket looks very interesting, that's for sure,” Kay said. “And nobody in our part of the bracket has seen us, so that's the good thing.”

No. 9 St. Edward (7-2) at No. 8 Chicago Uplift (7-2): On the heels of winning the outright Gold Division title in the Suburban Christian Conference Saturday, the Green Wave have a chance to achieve their primary goal for this season: win a playoff game for the first time in school history.

“It's an opportunity to do something this school has never done get a victory in Week 10,” St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said hours after his team defeated Wheaton Academy, 22-10.

A win would guarantee St. Edward another new experience: a home playoff game. The Wave would host the winner of Mendota (5-4) and Rockford Christian (9-0) at Greg True Field in Week 2.