Familiar matchups in DuPage
If a rematch between Wheaton Warrenville South and Glenbard West occurs, it'll be much sooner than last season's Class 7A state championship football game.
The Tigers (9-0) and Hilltoppers (8-1) were placed in the same eight-team quadrant in the IHSA playoff pairings announced on Saturday as 15 DuPage County teams qualified in five classes.
While WW South, Glenbard West, Wheaton North and Benet reside in the same quadrant of the bottom bracket, unbeaten East St. Louis looms as a potential semifinal opponent. The top half of the 7A bracket is headed by unbeaten Simeon as well as Carmel and St. Rita, which both suffered their lone losses this weekend.
“It'll be hard to play a lot of these teams again,” Tigers coach Ron Muhitch said of his team's quadrant. “Those are some good quality programs with good athletes.”
Defending 7A champion WW South, which beat Glenbard West in double overtime in last year's final, opens with Benet (5-4). The Tigers could face Wheaton North in the second round and then if both teams live up to their seeding Glenbard West and WW South would meet in the quarterfinals.
Both sides, however, know they have to play well to reach that point.
“We're excited,” said Tigers quarterback Reilly O'Toole. “Benet's going to be tough. We saw them play Thursday night (a 45-0 loss to Joliet Catholic), and we know they're going to come out ready to play.”
Glenbard West suffered a blow to its seeding with a surprising 31-13 loss to Lyons Twp. on Saturday. The Hilltoppers have a chance to redeem themselves starting with a first-round matchup against Plainfield North (7-2).
“You've got a lot of good teams in that group,” said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet. “Right now the only thing we're thinking about is beating Plainfield North.”
With Glenbard West's loss on Saturday, York (8-1) earned a share of the West Suburban Silver title with the Hilltoppers and Lyons Twp. The Dukes received more good news Saturday night by earning the top seed in the bottom half of the Class 8A bracket.
The Dukes powered by Ryan Kent, the leading rusher in DuPage County open at home against Lockport (5-4), which was the second-to-last team in the eight-class field to earn a playoff spot.
“The day certainly ends better than it began,” said Dukes coach Bill Lech. “Those were two of our goals at the beginning of the season, to win a conference title and be a No. 1 seed.”
Glenbard North (8-1), the third seed in the upper bracket of Class 8A, opens with No. 14 Palatine (5-4), which beat Barrington on Friday to earn a postseason berth.
“We know it's not going to be easy,” said Panthers coach Ryan Wilkens. “We just need to take care of what we do well.”
Waubonsie Valley (7-2) is a fifth seed in 8A and faces Brother Rice (5-4). Naperville North (6-3) has a tough first-round matchup at Marist (6-3), last year's 8A runner-up, and 11th-seeded Neuqua Valley (6-3) heads to Downers Grove South (7-2).
Two area 6A qualifiers face rugged road tests. Addison Trail (5-4), which beat Leyden to qualify, travels to unbeaten Rockford Boylan. Fenton (5-4), which had to beat Riverside-Brookfield to earn a berth, heads to Morgan Park (8-1).
Immaculate Conception (6-3), a two-time state champion that won the Class 2A title in 2008, is fifth-seeded in Class 3A and travels to No. 4 Byron (6-3).
One of the more interesting area matchups takes place in Class 5A where Suburban Christian Conference rivals St. Francis (6-3) and Montini (7-2) will meet in Lombard.
The defending 5A champion Broncos, seeded sixth, beat St. Francis 28-14 in Week 4.
“We just can't avoid it, it's just the geographical part of the playoffs,” said Montini coach Chris Andriano. “It's two teams that are very familiar with each other, with good staffs, good players. It'll be a tough ballgame.”