Undefeated Grant seeks respect

Shortly after the pairings for the IHSA football playoffs were televised Saturday night, Kurt Rous got a phone call.

It was his quarterback Pavel Zurkowski, and he wanted details.

The 9-0 Bulldogs, who earned the No. 3 seed in the Class 6A bracket, got matched up with No. 14 Simeon (5-4) and Zurkowski had all kinds of questions about what kind of team he would see next week.

"He was like, 'What do you know about them? Do you know anything about them yet?' " Rous said. "He was so excited."

But that's not the only thing Zurkowski was excited about.

"He was like, 'Did you see me on TV?' " Rous said. "He thought that was pretty neat."

A clip of Zurkowski making a play against Wauconda earlier in the season was shown as the pairings show went to commercial break.

Zurkowski would love more airtime come Thanksgiving weekend when the state finals will be televised from Champaign. Getting there is the Bulldogs' goal as they try to keep the magic going.

"The season was magical for us, but it didn't happen by magic," Rous said. "These guys have worked so hard for this and they know that hard work has its rewards. They know that they still have to keep working hard."

Rous is convinced that a perfect regular season -- one of just three in school history -- won't make his players overconfident. If anything, the Bulldogs seem to feel that they have to keep proving themselves.

"We've been playing with a chip on our shoulders all season because of what we see as a lack of respect," Rous said. "We're 9-0 and we get the No. 3 seed. We see ourselves as the Rodney Dangerfields of the North Suburban Conference."

In Class 6A, Vernon Hills, one of the smallest schools in the bracket, will also be seeking some respect.

Because of an overtime loss to Wauconda on Friday, the Cougars dropped to the No. 16 seed and are now faced with the task of trying to bring down No. 1 Richards, which boasts a 9-0 record.

"When you get in at 5-4, there's not going to be an easy draw for you anywhere," Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken said. "You just get who you get.

"But every year, our main goal is to make the playoffs and we did that, so now we're just going to have fun and see what happens."

You'd better believe Wauconda is going to have some fun.

The Bulldogs are in the playoffs for the first time since 1998. By getting that overtime win over Vernon Hills, they earned the No. 9 seed in the Class 5A bracket.

Wauconda (7-2) will face No. 8 Belvidere, which also sports a 7-2 record.

In Class 7A, Lake Zurich and Carmel made a field that is loaded with powerhouse teams.

The Bears, who rolled through their season with an 8-1 record and won the North Suburban Conference Lake Division title, managed only the No. 4 seed.

They'll take on No. 13 Wheeling, which is 6-3.

"This class is just really tough," said Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz, whose team advanced to the Class 7A state championship game last year. "We were 7-1 going into the last week of the season and we were only rated No. 9 in the Class. To have that many teams with more wins or playoff points is amazing.

"It's going to be a very tough bracket."

No. 7 Carmel is also in the 7A bracket and will take on No. 10 Crystal Lake South, which is 7-2. The Corsairs will be trying to rebound from Friday's crushing 45-8 loss to Joliet Catholic.

"Before we knew it, we were down 19-0," Carmel coach Andy Bitto said. "It was very disappointing. We met with the kids (Saturday morning) and they were embarrassed. They were ticked at themselves. I think they'll come out hard this week. They know they've got to get it back together because it's do or die now."

In Class 8A, No. 15 Stevenson (5-4) got a familiar foe in Fremd, which got a close win in the teams' playoff game last year.

The Vikings are the No. 2 seed and boast a 9-0 record.

"We love this matchup," Stevenson coach Bill Mitz said. "We don't have a lot of guys who played in that game last year, but we all remember it. We can't wait to play them again."

A Stevenson win could bring on another rematch for Mitz's crew. Next up would be the winner of the Loyola Academy-Warren game.

No. 10 Warren (6-3) defeated Stevenson in a close game Friday. No. 7 Loyola (7-2) soundly defeated Stevenson in Week 1.

"This is a really tough draw," Warren coach Dave Mohapp said. "We saw Loyola back in the summer in a 7-on-7 game and we were impressed with them then. They can really throw the ball well.

"We got a lot of confidence coming out of that win against Stevenson, but we are really going to have to be prepared and play our best against Loyola."

Other Lake County teams making the playoffs were Lake Forest (Class 6A, vs. Oswego) and Highland Park (6A, vs. Lemont).

At 4-5, Libertyville failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1996.