Buckle your seat belts for fantastic finishing Friday

This has turned out to be a fantastic finishing Friday to the 2009 Mid-Suburban League football season.

The schedule couldn't have played out any better as the rivalry showdowns have come to fruition with big stakes. Maybe Fremd-Palatine and Rolling Meadows-Prospect should always be at the end of the year like Ohio State-Michigan or USC-UCLA.

Then there's the added bonus of Elk Grove and Buffalo Grove where the winner is in the playoff field of 256 with a 6-3 record and the loser would need lots of help to qualify at 5-4.

Too bad we couldn't have a tripleheader. On one of the Mid-Suburban West's artificial turf fields, of course, with a fifth straight bad-weather Friday expected.

It's a heck of a way to kick off one of the most exciting weekends of the year with the announcement Saturday of the playoff pairings at 8 p.m. It's a weekend of anticipation and trepidation that is unique to any other IHSA sport.

Nowhere will that be more evident tonight than at Buffalo Grove where two young coaches have teams looking to end postseason droughts.

Some coaches were even calling the matchup with Elk Grove tonight's biggest game in the league since the loser's playoff points (combined number of wins by opponents) don't bode well for making the mix of 256.

BG goes from playing Meadows for an MSL East title last Friday to playing for its playoff lives tonight. The Bison haven't been part of the postseason party since 2003.

But tough-minded, multisport athletes such as Kevin Mulligan, John Angotti and Mike Cornely figure to leave last week's disappointment in the past.

"They've done a pretty good job over the course of the season of bouncing back from adversity," said second-year BG coach Jim Farrell, whose team rebounded from a 1-2 start. "That's who they are personality-wise. There's still a lot to play for and I think the kids are going to come out hungry.

"From a program standpoint on both sides it's an important game."

Farrell was the offensive coordinator when Elk Grove made its last playoff berth in 2004 and reached the Class 7A quarterfinals.

The Grenadiers had high hopes under first-year coach Brian Doll as junior quarterback Nick Meyer was back for his second year on the varsity and would be joined by a talented group of classmates.

This is a chance for seniors such as Matt McEnery, Kyle Pfister and offensive lineman Peter Ioakimidis, who returns this week from injury, to leave their mark for the future.

"It's a great opportunity for our kids," said Doll, whose team's losses are to Palatine, Prospect and Meadows. "We're excited and the school is excited. It gets us moving in the right direction this first year and now we have to finish it.

"BG and us are playing a playoff game (tonight). Our kids know and we've told them our chances of getting in aren't very good if we don't win."

Fremd, Palatine, Meadows and Prospect don't have to worry about making the field. But there is a lot on the line beyond the usual rivalry bragging rights.

Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly expects tonight's atmosphere at Fremd to equal a state quarterfinal or semifinal.

"That's the fun part," said Donnelly, who has led the Pirates to a third straight playoff berth. "You couldn't script it much better, unless we were both 8-0, and then it would be a lot better.

"Considering the circumstances it's not bad being 7-1."

Especially since junior quarterback Cody Bobbit missed nearly three games with a shoulder injury. He returned last week to try and give the Pirates a shot at sharing the West title again with Fremd.

That's not something the Vikings have much interest in as they clinched at least a share of an MSL record seventh straight division title last week.

"Wanting the outright conference title is especially big," said Fremd senior offensive lineman Mike Rumps, who helps lead the way for dynamic running back Evan Wright.

There's also the added intrigue of Joe Petricca standing on the Fremd side as an assistant coach after a glory-filled 13-year run as Palatine's head coach (1984-96).

There's rarely been any shortage of intrigue since Meadows coach Doug Millsaps and Prospect coach Brent Pearlman started turning this rivarly into something more than just for local bragging rights in the late 1990s.

Both coaches have tried to downplay this year's emphasis, but no one will be thinking about the longer-term picture at kickoff tonight.

It's the Mustangs, who clinched a share of the East title last week, and the MSL's stingiest defense led by Erick Louis-Charles against the most prolific offense of the Miles Osei-led Knights.

But it's also a rare treat of two of the top quarterbacks the league has produced in Osei and Meadows' Jimmy Garoppolo.

"Miles is one of the best high school players I've ever seen," Millsaps said. "When you look at these two quarterbacks, I don't know how you say there are better players around.

"When you have these two quarterbacks going that's worth the price of admission at any high school game."

And there are other games still with postseason implications. Leyden and Schaumburg are looking to improve their positions and St. Viator needs to beat St. Joseph to get to 5-4 and have a shot at making the field.

It appears the Lions will have enough points to be one of the final teams in the field of 256. But it will be a nervewracking Friday night and Saturday looking for scores from schools people have never heard of because of their postseason significance.

It's also part of the fun as all the plotting of potential playoff qualifiers and matchups by fans, coaches and media finally unfolds Saturday night on the IHSA TV network or at ihsa.org.

Millsaps and defensive coordinator Tony Wolanski earlier this week recalled how in 2003 they were up well into Saturday morning after their Friday night finale to track down scores from across the state related to their tenuous postseason hopes.

Almost everything Meadows needed to happen fell into place and the Mustangs made the field as the 252nd team. It also started a run of seven appearances, which is now the third-best in MSL history.

It's all part of what makes this weekend one of the most fun of the high school year.

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com