Elation, dejection for Fox Valley football teams
Saturday's announcement of the IHSA football playoff pairings left four area teams elated, two dejected.
Everyone wearing St. Edward green and gold sported a broad smile at Danny's on Douglas, a pizzeria in downtown Elgin where approximately 100 members of the St. Edward football community gathered in front of a big screen to find out which opponent the Green Wave would draw in the wake of a 9-0 regular season.
The crowd erupted in cheers when St. Edward was named the No. 2 seed of the 16 teams in the northern half the of Class 4A bracket. The Green Wave will square off against No. 15 Rock Island Alleman, a 5-4 team that finished in a three-way tie for the Western Big 6 Conference title with Galesburg and Quincy.
Alleman, which owns five state runner-up trophies, reached a 4A semifinal last season before bowing out to eventual state champion Rochester, 46-21. The Pioneers are 32-19 all-time in the postseason.
"I think it's going to be a really good football game. They've got a great history," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "They've been in the playoffs the last four years. We've made the playoffs four of the last six years, but we're still relatively new to it. I think we have a good football team and we have a lot of weapons. We're excited to have a home game and play in front of our crowd."
The second home playoff game in St. Edward history will be played on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Rolando said winning at least one playoff game is the primary goal. That may seem like a low bar for a 9-0 team, but St. Edward's all-time postseason record is 1-4.
"We don't want to look too far ahead, just take one game at a time," St. Edward senior wide receiver Nick Duffy said. "We'll just focus on Rock Island."
St. Edward was ousted in the first round last year after a 40-22 loss on a wet field in Harvard.
"Obviously, we want to go as far as we can, definitely farther than last year," St. Edward sack leader Josh Von Rohr said. "We'll try our best. There are some tough teams out there."
Elsewhere, the area's other undefeated team, Cary-Grove, earned the No. 1 seed of 16 teams in the northern bracket of Class 7A. The Trojans will host No. 16 Niles North (5-4). That's bad news for the Vikings since Cary-Grove has won a first-round playoff game every year since 2004.
The winner moves on to play the winner of No. 9 St. Charles North (7-2) at No. 8 Rolling Meadows (7-2). If Cary-Grove makes a deep playoff run as expected, the Trojans potentially could face No. 4 Geneva in a quarterfinal and No. 2 Highland Park (9-0) or No. 3 Addison Trail (8-1) in a semifinal, if seeds hold.
In Class 8A, Huntley (8-1) returns to the playoffs for the second time in three years under coach John Hart. Seeded No. 7 of the 16 teams in the northern half of the bracket, the Red Raiders will host No. 10 Palatine (7-2).
The winner of that game gets the winner of No. 15 Fremd (6-3) vs. No. 2 Glenbard West (9-0). Coach Chad Hetlet's Hilltoppers reached a Class 7A semifinal last season. They won Class 7A in 2012.
In Class 5A, Burlington Central (6-3) earned the No. 7 seed of 16 schools in the top half of the bracket, which means the Rockets get a first-round home game despite only 6 wins. It will be the school's first playoff game on Rocket Hill since 2006.
Central, making its 16th playoff appearance and first since 2011, is matched up against No. 10 Sterling (6-3). The Golden Warriors, making their 27th postseason appearance, are 16-26 all-time in the postseason.
Not every team was left smiling Saturday. Statewide, four teams with 5-4 records and at least 39 playoff points (combined wins by opponents) were left out of the tournament, including Jacobs.
Another six schools with 5-4 records and 38 playoff points were also left out of the dance. South Elgin was among that group. The threshold last season was 36 points. It was 38 points in 2012.
For Jacobs, not making the playoff means the end of two streaks. The Golden Eagles has reached the postseason four straight years since coach Bill Mitz took over the program.
For Mitz, a hall-of-famer who made the playoffs 21 straight years as the coach at Stevenson, it means the end of a 25-year streak of consecutive playoff appearances.
"That part's not important," Mitz said of the personal streak. "I just feel terrible for our kids. (Friday) night, the bus ride home (after a win at McHenry) was very exciting. The kids were looking at those stupid iPhones and saw that St. Charles East won, Barrington won. With 39 points I thought for sure we were a lock. We looked at it (the IHSA website) in the morning and started thinking about possible matchups. Then we went back and looked at it later and thought, 'Oh my God, we might not make it.'
"It's tough. It's tough. I feel bad for the kids."