Rehashing old memories in playoff pairings

You could almost see it coming.

Saturday night when the IHSA football playoff pairings were announced, lo and behold Montini and St. Francis were slated to play each other in a Class 5A first-round game.

If it seems like only last year the two Suburban Christian Conference schools met in the first round, it's because they did. In 2008 it took until the quarterfinals for the teams to meet. Montini also won a first-round game over the Spartans in 2004. The teams have faced each other six times in the last three years.

That interests St. Francis coach Greg Purnell, who four years ago brought decades of experience in Iowa's system for comparison.

“One of the nice things about the playoffs is that you usually end up getting to play somebody different,” said Purnell, who boasts a number of Kane County players on his playoff roster: Jack Porter, Kyle Bosch, Mike Stolte, Jake Fahey, Quinn Adams, Ryan Kaltenmark, Hunter and Connor Bolin, Tommy Hipschen, T.J. Humes, Matt Netzler and Brendan Marren.

“For some reason we have not had that luxury, so we have to play Montini, a perennial power in Illinois high school football, three years in a row. The fact that we're two private schools and we're (back to back) 2008, 2009 state champions, I know it wasn't intended this way but it almost looks like they want to try to get rid of one of us Catholics as soon as they can.”

Stacked brackets have long been an argument in many sports, private and public alike. Conspiracy theorists have had fodder over recent sectionals in girls volleyball, girls soccer, girls and boys basketball.

To look at the IHSA's Class 5A map it just seems another coincidence, aggravating as it may be.

Splitting the 32 teams into a northern group of 16 and two southern quadrants of eight, northerners Montini and St. Francis logically converge based on victories and then playoff points.

Of course, seeding versus regional representation is another topic.

“Because we play on weekends, travel is not a factor, and should not be a factor,” Purnell said. “Put (the teams) in two 16-team brackets, seed them and let them play. That's more fair.”

It's not that Purnell shrinks to a challenge or hasn't seen a crazy playoff scenario. He's got five state titles under his belt the Spartans in 2008, three as head coach at Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa, plus another as defensive coordinator at Hempstead High in Dubuque. He also recalled missing the playoffs at Linn-Mar after going 8-1 due to that state's playoff peculiarities.

“The thing I've been surprised about in coming from Iowa is there seems to be a different kind of awareness or perception about private schools,” said Purnell, 2-4 against Montini entering Saturday's game.

“In Iowa we had two private schools (Xavier and Waller) in our league when I was there. We didn't multiply them by 1.65 before we started the playoffs. A high school football player is a high school football player.”

Due largely to the ones from nonpublic schools winning 16 of 18 titles in Classes 4A-6A between 1999-2004, the multiplier was initiated in 2005. Since the catchphrase “more level playing field” was installed nonpublic schools have won 10 of the 15 titles in those three classes.

Last season, Kaneland opened the playoffs against Sycamore, a redux of a conference game six weeks earlier. St. Charles North saw South Elgin in Week 8 and Week 10. Should both Batavia and Geneva win their first-round games this weekend they'll meet in a Class 6A second-rounder.

That rivalry rematch will be welcome. Still, variety remains the spice of life.

“I tell my coaches this every year all we're doing is creating memories,” Purnell said. “And by playing a different school because you qualified for the playoffs, it gives you a different memory if you play somebody else other than your conference opponent. Because the last three years we have really not had that opportunity because we get paired up right away, we miss a new experience for our kids.”

He added, “it is what it is.” For St. Francis it is an opportunity.

“To be real honest with you, our kids were excited about it,” Purnell said. “Like in 2008 and 2009, Montini was excited about playing us again because we'd beaten them 51-31 (in 2009).

“This year they beat us 28-14 and we played a real good second half and had a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter, and we didn't. Now, we have a chance to do that again. So, it is a good thing. That's the way we're looking at it. And, eventually, to get to Champaign you've got to play them sometime anyway.”

Stary's Stars

The Illinois Coaches Association recently announced its sectional softball coaches of the year for 2010. Earning the honor was St. Charles North's April Stary, who resigned following last season to spend more time with her family.

Stary's North Stars went 29-4 in 2010, and won the second of two consecutive Upstate Eight Conference championships. St. Charles North was upset by York in its regional opener.

Sectional coaches of the year, and the ICA Hall of Fame Class of 2011, will be honored at the ICA Hall of Fame Banquet on Feb. 20, 2011, in Bloomington.

High-water marks

Congratulations to Rosary junior Molly Coonce and Beads graduate Mackenzie Powers for being named to the USA Swimming Scholastic All-America Team.

Illinois Swimming made the announcement Sept. 30, saluting high school swimmers who have a grade-point average of 3.5 or above and achieved a time standard in at least one of their events. Both Coonce and Powers now a freshman swimmer at Penn State each were members of the Academy Bullets Swim Club.

King Cardinal

North Central College football coach John Thorne is nearing the school's career record for coaching victories.

A victory by the 7-0 Cardinals on Saturday at Elmhurst College's Langhorst Field would give Thorne a 9-year record of 74-21, tying the wins mark established by Gordon Fisher (74-44-12) from 1926-42.

Thorne owns North Central's record for winning percentage at .776. If successful Saturday, North Central visits Wheaton College's McCully Stadium on Nov. 6 with en eye toward Thorne's record-setting win No. 75.