Scouting WW South at Belleville East

No. 1 Wheaton Warrenville South (12-0) at No. 5 Belleville East (10-2)

Class 7A semifinals

Game time: 5 p.m. today.

How they got here: WW South beat Benet, 49-7; Wheaton North, 44-0; and Glenbard West, 40-20. Belleville East beat O'Fallon, 29-13; Belleville West, 21-13; and Minooka, 21-18.

Outlook: The Tigers probably thought their first playoff trip downstate would be to East St. Louis, but the Flyers' postseason expulsion opened the door for Belleville East to make its first trip to the semifinals. The Lancers are definitively run-first. In fact they've attempted 66 passes all season with quarterback Darnell Stevenson, a converted running back, throwing for just 225 yards. Stevenson and running backs Ryan Herring and Kevin Gettis, however, have combined for 2,012 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns. WW South's stingy defense allowed only 120 rushing yards to Glenbard West last week, so the unit's certainly capable of run-stuffing. Eight straight 40-point performances makes you wonder if anyone can slow the Tigers. Quarterback Reilly O'Toole has thrown for 2,600 yards and Matt Rogers has rushed for nearly 1,100 yards. WW South has committed 7 turnovers all season. Excessive penalties seem to be the one thing slowing the Tigers.

Advancement: The winner advances to next Saturday's state title game to play today's winner between St. Rita (11-1) and Lake Zurich (11-1).