Morris presents BC big challenge

Burlington Central's Class 5A first-round playoff opponent has quite a storied history behind it.

Fifth-seeded Morris, located 51 miles south of Burlington on Illinois 47, will host No. 12 seed Central tonight at 7 p.m. in its 75th playoff game since 1979. Morris won state titles in 1980 and 1984 (under longtime former coach Dan Darlington) and two years ago under current coach and program veteran George Dergo.

But Central is no stranger to football success either. The Rockets are in the playoffs for the seventh time this decade and have advanced to the second round or deeper five times since 2000.

"This is a good pressure for everybody on the team," said Central senior linebacker Curt Mastio. "That's why they call it tradition. Nobody wants to let that tradition down. Everybody has expectations to live up to when you put on the Central jersey and helmet every Friday night. We've got good coaching and a good game plan every Friday night. We've got athletes that are dedicated to the program. We want to go out there and keep the tradition alive. Expectations lead you to perform on Friday night."

Central will encounter a Morris team that went 7-2 and won the Southwest Prairie Conference. Morris' only losses have been to 7-2 Pontiac by 3 points and to state power Joliet Catholic (8-1). Inside the conference, Morris beat only two teams with winning records (Oswego and Plainfield Central).

The Redskins are paced offensively by senior quarterback Drew Hanson (81-for-94 passing, 918 yards) and backfield mates Adam Tondini (99 carries, 837 yards, 10 total touchdowns, 224 receiving yards), Stephen Wagner (300 rushing yards, 155 receiving yards) and Abe Black (109 carries, 487 yards). Hanson's main target is wide receiver Zach Phetard (30 receptions, 495 yards, 7 touchdowns). Senior right tackle Ben Olson (6-foot-4, 273 pounds) is getting looks from places like Eastern Illinois, Illinois State and Northern Illinois.

"I think we've got a balanced attack," said Dergo, in his third year as head coach at Morris (he's been in the program since 1984). "We've got a lot of different guys we can go to. We can spread it around. We've got 11 guys that have caught balls this year."

But Dergo says the fuel driving this year's bus has been defense. Morris has given up 19 or fewer points during the team's current 7-game winning streak (the team started out 0-2).

"The mainstay for us is our defense," said Dergo. "We've got a couple of linebackers, one hits hard and one runs the show. We can put some big kids across the line, or we can slim down. Our defensive ends have played real well and our DBs can fly."

Those two key linebackers are junior Drew Tondini (6-0, 225) and senior Ryan Clausen (5-10, 185). Tondini is regarded as the more physical backer.

"Defense is where we are tough," said Dergo. "These kids play defense. They know what it is all about. We've got a tough, hard-nosed defense."

Central (6-3) comes into the contest after having been shutout in a Week 9 showdown with Harvard for the Big Northern Conference Eastern Division crown.

But fourth-year Rockets coach Aaron Wichman says that tough setback to Harvard is a thing of the past.

"We had a little bump in the road there," said Wichman, who is 26-15 at Central. "But we told the kids you can't dwell on that going into the playoffs. It's over with and you move on. Everybody is 0-0 right now. That's how we're approaching it. It's a do-or-die situation now in the playoffs and we want to make sure we put ourselves in the best possible position to succeed."

Wichman applauded the recent offensive play of senior quarterback Dan Hagberg and senior running back Greg Dickson. Hagberg, who has attempted only 20 passes this year, comes into the game with 809 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns, while Dickson has run for 522 yards and has 7 total touchdowns.

"They've been two main threats for us," said Wichman, who also praised the recent play of defensive tackle Jordan Romano.

Wichman said Jason Wagner, another key part of the Central offense, practiced on Monday and as of that time was ready to go for the Morris game. Wagner (397 rushing yards and 9 total touchdowns) had been slowed by injury and played sparingly against Harvard.

"He looked pretty good in practice," Wichman said Monday evening. "He looked like the Jason of old."

The winner of tonight's game advances to second-round action against Saturday's Rochelle (No. 13 seed) at Chicago Harper (No. 4 seed) victor.