Nothing like a nice, long road trip

The road to a state championship game in Champaign is getting shorter.

But for the three remaining playoff football teams in Lake County, that means the road trips are getting longer.

Players and coaches at Antioch, Grant and Carmel will all be in for relatively long bus rides on Saturday as they head out to their respective state quarterfinal games.

"That's what happens at this point in the season," said Carmel coach Andy Bitto, whose team has had some experience with long road trips as a member of the spread-out East Suburban Catholic Conference. "You have to be ready to go anywhere."

In Class 6A, Antioch will visit Glenbard South in west suburban Glen Ellyn (3 p.m.) and Grant will trek down to the far south suburbs for a 6 p.m. game in Lemont, which is a bit northeast of Joliet.

In Class 7A, Carmel will check out the digs at Geneva, which is just as far south, but even further west than Glen Ellyn. Game time there is set for 1:30 p.m.

Each trip should be between 50 and 65 miles and at least 90 minutes in bus time. Fun.

Especially with all those big, burly players crammed inside.

"It's not the greatest (situation)," Grant coach Kurt Rous said of the long, 62-mile drive to Lemont, which is more than three times the distance his team travels for its furthest conference road game. "Our road trips are usually pretty short. But this beats the alternative. I'd rather be traveling than doing what Huntley's doing."

Grant ousted Huntley last week in the second round to earn a quarterfinal berth.

Ever since, Rous and his staff have been working furiously to make all of the necessary arrangements for a trip that is big in both mileage and magnitude.

Ditto for the staffs at Antioch and Carmel, where quarterfinal berths were earned last weekend with second round victories over Highland Park and Woodstock, respectively.

"The magnitude of the game automatically involves more planning. I mean, this is the quarterfinals," Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said. "And then you're also thinking about all the little things that are different about a trip like this - like gym space and where we'll warm up and walk through stuff when we get down there, things like that.

"Usually when you've got a road game, you can do those kinds of things before you leave your own place. You can't do that when the game is so far away, so you have to tweak your itinerary a bit."

The bus situation will get tweaked, too.

At all three schools, extra school busses have been ordered to help make the longer trips more comfortable.

Usually, each team travels to road games in two busses. Antioch and Carmel will add a third bus this weekend while Grant is planning to drive four busses to Lemont. That way, the players can spread out a tad more than normal.

"Hopefully, we can loosen up the cramp factor, but once the kids start moving and getting into the routine, they'll be fine," Glashagel said. "I think they'll have a pretty nice trip. All you need is some good music and a pillow and those guys will probably be dozing off. They'll have plenty of food in their stomachs. They'll be good to go."

Ah, food - an essential supply for any road trip of significance.

"I'm telling the guys to bring plenty of snacks," said Rous, who was also looking into whether or not the football boosters and team moms would be able to provide a meal for his players before they leave.

At Antioch and Carmel, a game wouldn't be a game without an elaborate pre-game meal put on by the parents. We're talking table after table filled with pastas and lasagna and salads and fruits and, of course, desserts.

That won't change one bit because of the longer trip. The coaches are more than happy to start their pre-game routines early to fit in the meals.

"We actually get two meals a week as a team," Glashagel said with a laugh. "It started when we were 6-0 or 7-0 and people were suggesting that they also feed us the night before the game for a carb load. Of course I said 'Yes.' It's amazing. We get the night before the game and the day of. And there's so much food, it's ridiculous. I've never been on a cruise before, but this is what I imagine one being like with all the food that gets put out.

"I think you need to go 6-0 for something like that to start happening. Once you keep winning, a lot more stuff seems to happen. People want to do everything they can to help you out."

Speaking of help, Bitto says that his team's familiarity with long road trips becomes a big help this time of year.

Not every Carmel away game involves more than an hour bus ride, but many do. In fact, earlier this season, the Corsairs spent two hours and 35 minutes in rush hour traffic getting to their game at Marist, which is on the South Side of Chicago.

It stands as Carmel's only loss on the season.

"I'm sure that long ride contributed to the way we played that day," Bitto said. "But that's OK. I still kind of like the long road trips. They bring you together as a team and they teach the kids about getting through a little bit of adversity."

Compared to the Marist trip, the Geneva trip shouldn't feel like adversity at all for the Corsairs.

"By the time we get to playoffs, our kids are used to the travel," Bitto said. "It's psychological, just like our schedule. When you play a tough schedule, the playoffs are less intimidating. When you're used to traveling, the big trips in the playoffs become less intimidating, too."

So where does that leave the teams that aren't used to a lot of long road trips - like Grant and Antioch?

"As coaches, you can turn what kids may say as a disadvantage into an advantage," Bitto said. "You can turn a long trip into an advantage by telling them that it gives them even more time to evaluate and visualize success. That's what I tell my kids."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com