No time for Wheaton North to let up

Wheaton North qualified for the football playoffs by the skin of its teeth.

It doesn't get any easier this weekend.

The Falcons, who needed last week's double-overtime victory over Glenbard East to earn a critical fifth win, travel for a 1 p.m. Saturday game against unbeaten Rockford Boylan in the opening round of the Class 7A playoffs.

"We're proud of the effort we've shown in the last few weeks," said Wheaton North coach Joe Wardynski. "This is a resilient bunch."

The 15th-seeded Falcons (5-4) must be resilient against a second-seeded Rockford Boylan (9-0) team entering the playoffs unbeaten for a third straight season and vying for a 10th straight first-round win.

Wheaton North's dealt with difficult situations all season, though, starting with the season-ending knee injury to Ohio State-bound quarterback Taylor Graham. The Falcons fell to 3-4 after a tough overtime loss to Naperville Central, but that defeat actually energized the team.

The following week Wheaton North beat Naperville North for the first time since 2002, setting up the critical win over Glenbard East.

With junior quarterback Reece Butler, who's thrown for 499 yards and 4 touchdowns, running the show, the Falcons rallied into the postseason. His top target is receiver Richard Finley, who has 43 catches for 509 yards. Running back Mekael Wesley has emerged as the feature back.

The Falcons struggled defensively at times, but lineman Sam Weatherred, linebacker Kevin Farley and defensive back Carson Rajcan lead a unit that's looked great at times - especially in the 10-3 win over Naperville North.

It'll take an even better effort against Rockford Boylan for Wheaton North to pull off the upset and advance to the second round for the first time since 2002.

"It's an opponent we don't know a lot about, so we need to control everything we can with the way we play," Wardynski said. "We need to take care of the ball, limit mistakes and see what happens."