Wheaton Academy vs. Sycamore: One underdog will win this game

Wheaton Academy at Sycamore - upset winners both.

But as Sycamore coach Joe Ryan said of No. 16 seed Wheaton Academy's 20-19 overtime win last week against No. 1 seed Hillcrest, "All you have to do is win on a Saturday. It's not a seven-game series."

Still, what a first round for these Class 5A teams.

No. 9 seed Sycamore (7-3) passed once while running 51 times in a 40-13 win over fellow Western Sun Conference foe Kaneland, a No. 8 seed. The Spartans won their first playoff game since 1985; they haven't reached the third round since 1978.

When Wheaton Academy kicker Sam Cote shrugged off Hillcrest's attempt to ice him in overtime and made the winning extra point, it was the first playoff win ever for Wheaton Academy (6-4).

"Everybody's just on cloud nine," said Warriors coach Ben Wilson. "We're just excited to keep playing. Everybody's believing at this point that we can beat anybody. That's what we want our kids to believe."

Each team poses obvious challenges to the other. Wheaton Academy running back Kai Libby and quarterback Brian Pell will certainly want to improve upon last week's minus-5 yards rushing, but the Warriors are mainly about Pell's throwing arm, which has produced 2,061 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Two-way star Anthony Ritchie alone has caught 64 balls for 963 yards and 8 touchdowns, but when Hillcrest knocked out fellow receiver Luke Thorson (concussion), Brian MacDonald made the first touchdown catch of his career to send the game into overtime.

Sycamore fullback Joe Dougherty enjoyed his own highlight, a career-high 210 yards and 3 touchdowns. That complicates things for Wheaton Academy front-seven defenders like Ritchie, Pell, Cote, Jon Fink, Jake Heidorn and Nate Jones.

While Dougherty has run for 719 yards and 9 touchdowns, Sycamore's main man is potential all-stater Marckie Hayes, a three-time all-Western Sun pick who this year has run for 1,591 yards and 14 touchdowns. He's got 2 more scores on punt returns.

"He's got the speed to go outside, the toughness to go north and south," Wilson said. "He's the best tailback that we'll see all year for sure. Unless we play Joliet Catholic."

Just a few Saturdays away.