| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
| QUARTERFINAL OBSERVATIONS |
Let me start this piece off by saying I apologize for not being able to get a piece in last
week. I did have plans to cover a game last week, and write a piece. However, a couple
of things happened to me outside of high school football. First and foremost, I had a
film appreciation paper to write as well as a math assignment to complete. Usually they
don't budge into the time I spend on the website, but they did last week. Two, my hours
at work were increased. I am working quite a bit these days, and at two stations now.
You may find me working at the Shell station on Route 38 in Dixon on occasion.
On Friday night, I had to work a double shift. I was too tired and slept in on Saturday
afternoon. However, that won't stop me from writing a Quarterfinal Observations piece.
From 0-3 to Quarterfinals
No team has consistently continued to impress during the course of the football season
more so than Belvidere North has this season. Even though they fell to Prairie Ridge
this weekend, the Blue Thunder's season is memorable in so many ways.
Belvidere North started this season 0-3. The Blue Thunder was outscored 92-26 by
Hononegah, Harlem and Guilford in succession, each of them playoff teams.
Any team starting off 0-3 would seriously doubt their goal to make the playoffs. But
holes can be climbed out of, and rocks and hard places can budge.
The Blue Thunder then put together a nearly-flawless streak of football. Wins over
Freeport (50-32) and Rockford East (35-18) set up a battle with undefeated NIC-10
conference power Boylan. Call it weather, or going all out, but North gave Boylan a
game, despite falling 19-14. The good news was that the game proved that the Blue
Thunder was going to be no slouch this season. However, one more loss and they
would be done.
Week 8's “Battle of Belvidere” with the crosstown Bucs pitted two teams vying for a
playoff spot. In a hard-fought, back-and-forth game, the Blue Thunder came away 40-
37 winners. They improved to 4-4 on the season before meeting winless Auburn.
Their lone playoff appearance didn't turn out so well, falling hard to Class 5A champion
Wheaton St. Francis 49-14. Now the Blue Thunder were going against one of the top
Chicago Public League programs in Robeson, on the Gately turf. In the first game of a
Gately triple-header, North pulled off an upset by winning 14-7. Then it was off to Milt
Brown Stadium to face another Public League opponent, this time it was the Hubbard
Greyhounds, a team that demolished Metro Suburban champion Riverside-Brookfield in
the first round. The Blue Thunder fought the entire game, and ended up pulling out a
29-26 win.
No team that began 0-3 this season made it to the quarterfinal round, except for the
Blue Thunder. Their next opponent was Prairie Ridge, and after three quarters of play it
looked as if another win was within their grasp. However, it took a resurgent Prairie
Ridge fourth quarter to end the magic. The Wolves grabbed a lead and never looked
back in winning 28-20.
North never gave up at times when it looked as if they could. That alone is what makes
the Blue Thunder season of 2009 a memorable one.
Another Best Team in School History
Of the area's four playoff survivors, one team has ensured themselves as the best
team in its school's history.
The Lena-Winslow Panthers only have one blemish on their record, and that was
against eventual NUIC Northwest champion Dakota in Week 1, 14-6. Since then the
Panthers have been on a tear. They finished the rest of the season unbeaten, holding
five opponents to under eight points, and beating Eastland/Pearl City 25-18 in a game
that decided second place in the division.
After sending Alden-Hebron packing in the first round of the playoffs, the Panthers were
set to go against the one team that gave them that one loss. Dakota, who had been
ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press polls all season long, fell to the revengeful
Panthers 20-7.
It became the start of an upswing. The Panthers went into East Dubuque this past
weekend and blew away the Warriors, who were trying for the semifinals for the second
time in school history. Lena-Winslow won the game 32-6. They head back home to take
on unbeaten Heart of Illinois Conference champion Lexington in the semifinal.
Lena-Winslow had tried for the semifinal three other times this decade. The last attempt
was in 2006, when an unbeaten Panther team traveled to, and fell to, the Morrison
Mustangs.
The Games Get Tougher
Speaking of the Mustangs, this season's team is close to becoming their best ever. A
win in the semifinal game, and thus a trip to state, would make that happen.
Morrison, along with the rest of the area's surviving teams (even Lena), are finding that
the games get tougher as the season goes on. Of course they do. However, it's
becoming a matter of not how many points a team scores, but enough points to win a
ballgame. Morrison had been averaging over 40 points per game in winning the Big
Rivers Conference championship and beating their first two playoff opponents.
Morrison defeated Orion in their home quarterfinal 14-7. Although that's not as many
points scored, it's still a win, and that's all that's needed to make it to the next round in
the quarters and beyond.
Same goes for Stillman Valley, a team which had also averaged over 40 points per
game coming into the quarters. Newman held the Cardinals to “just” 21 points. Unlike
the rest of the games, domination wasn't how Stillman Valley beat Newman. It took
holding off a last-chance offensive strike by the Comets. Newman scored with seconds
left in the game to trail by one point at 21-20. A try for two points ended up being
repeated due to a Cardinal offsides call in the first try. With another chance to end it,
the try was stuffed.
Geneseo also won their quarterfinal game with not as many points. It took just 17 to
beat Mendota. The Maple Leafs have to go up against Richmond-Burton, a team that
beat Geneseo in last year's second round. The Rockets are also feeing the effects of
quarterfinal toughness: after averaging over 45 points per game after week six, they
were held to “just” 28 in a win over Johnsburg.
Sycamore had its best season in 30 years, having made it to the quarterfinal round.
However, Montini (which includes most of the legendary Driscoll program), was too
much for the Spartans, who fell 31-17.
Beyond Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois's semifinal games are often against teams from central or western
Illinois. Lexington, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley and Illini West all travel upward to meet
their opponents.
Since 2002, our area's small school teams (1A through 3A) are 10-4 against opponents
from southward. However, the area went 0-2 last year with Milledgeville losing to Stark
County and Oregon losing to Illini West. Area teams won each of these particular
matches in the semifinal from 2002 to 2004.
Illini West, the defending Class 3A champion, comes into Stillman Valley having scored
more than 600 points this season. They put up another pointfest against Wilmington by
scoring 43, but prevailed in overtime against the Wildcats' 41.
Gibson City has ended the seasons of Riverdale and Annawan/Wethersfield so far this
season, and also ended Mercer County's season by demolishing them 60-19.
Lexington is no stranger to the Northwest Upstate Illini, having played Galena and
Stockton in higher playoff games already this decade. The Minutemen have beaten
Fisher (23-14), LeRoy (20-12) and Alexis United (24-13) so far in the playoffs.
Review of Semis
Class 1A - Lexington (12-0) at Lena-Winslow (11-1) - Saturday @ 2:00 p.m.
Class 2A - Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley (11-1) at Morrison (12-0) - Saturday @ 2:00 p.m.
Class 3A - Carthage Illini West (12-0) at Stillman Valley (12-0) - Saturday @ 2:00 p.m.
Class 4A - Richmond-Burton (11-1) at Geneseo (10-2) - Saturday @ 1:00 p.m.
-Cody
week. I did have plans to cover a game last week, and write a piece. However, a couple
of things happened to me outside of high school football. First and foremost, I had a
film appreciation paper to write as well as a math assignment to complete. Usually they
don't budge into the time I spend on the website, but they did last week. Two, my hours
at work were increased. I am working quite a bit these days, and at two stations now.
You may find me working at the Shell station on Route 38 in Dixon on occasion.
On Friday night, I had to work a double shift. I was too tired and slept in on Saturday
afternoon. However, that won't stop me from writing a Quarterfinal Observations piece.
From 0-3 to Quarterfinals
No team has consistently continued to impress during the course of the football season
more so than Belvidere North has this season. Even though they fell to Prairie Ridge
this weekend, the Blue Thunder's season is memorable in so many ways.
Belvidere North started this season 0-3. The Blue Thunder was outscored 92-26 by
Hononegah, Harlem and Guilford in succession, each of them playoff teams.
Any team starting off 0-3 would seriously doubt their goal to make the playoffs. But
holes can be climbed out of, and rocks and hard places can budge.
The Blue Thunder then put together a nearly-flawless streak of football. Wins over
Freeport (50-32) and Rockford East (35-18) set up a battle with undefeated NIC-10
conference power Boylan. Call it weather, or going all out, but North gave Boylan a
game, despite falling 19-14. The good news was that the game proved that the Blue
Thunder was going to be no slouch this season. However, one more loss and they
would be done.
Week 8's “Battle of Belvidere” with the crosstown Bucs pitted two teams vying for a
playoff spot. In a hard-fought, back-and-forth game, the Blue Thunder came away 40-
37 winners. They improved to 4-4 on the season before meeting winless Auburn.
Their lone playoff appearance didn't turn out so well, falling hard to Class 5A champion
Wheaton St. Francis 49-14. Now the Blue Thunder were going against one of the top
Chicago Public League programs in Robeson, on the Gately turf. In the first game of a
Gately triple-header, North pulled off an upset by winning 14-7. Then it was off to Milt
Brown Stadium to face another Public League opponent, this time it was the Hubbard
Greyhounds, a team that demolished Metro Suburban champion Riverside-Brookfield in
the first round. The Blue Thunder fought the entire game, and ended up pulling out a
29-26 win.
No team that began 0-3 this season made it to the quarterfinal round, except for the
Blue Thunder. Their next opponent was Prairie Ridge, and after three quarters of play it
looked as if another win was within their grasp. However, it took a resurgent Prairie
Ridge fourth quarter to end the magic. The Wolves grabbed a lead and never looked
back in winning 28-20.
North never gave up at times when it looked as if they could. That alone is what makes
the Blue Thunder season of 2009 a memorable one.
Another Best Team in School History
Of the area's four playoff survivors, one team has ensured themselves as the best
team in its school's history.
The Lena-Winslow Panthers only have one blemish on their record, and that was
against eventual NUIC Northwest champion Dakota in Week 1, 14-6. Since then the
Panthers have been on a tear. They finished the rest of the season unbeaten, holding
five opponents to under eight points, and beating Eastland/Pearl City 25-18 in a game
that decided second place in the division.
After sending Alden-Hebron packing in the first round of the playoffs, the Panthers were
set to go against the one team that gave them that one loss. Dakota, who had been
ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press polls all season long, fell to the revengeful
Panthers 20-7.
It became the start of an upswing. The Panthers went into East Dubuque this past
weekend and blew away the Warriors, who were trying for the semifinals for the second
time in school history. Lena-Winslow won the game 32-6. They head back home to take
on unbeaten Heart of Illinois Conference champion Lexington in the semifinal.
Lena-Winslow had tried for the semifinal three other times this decade. The last attempt
was in 2006, when an unbeaten Panther team traveled to, and fell to, the Morrison
Mustangs.
The Games Get Tougher
Speaking of the Mustangs, this season's team is close to becoming their best ever. A
win in the semifinal game, and thus a trip to state, would make that happen.
Morrison, along with the rest of the area's surviving teams (even Lena), are finding that
the games get tougher as the season goes on. Of course they do. However, it's
becoming a matter of not how many points a team scores, but enough points to win a
ballgame. Morrison had been averaging over 40 points per game in winning the Big
Rivers Conference championship and beating their first two playoff opponents.
Morrison defeated Orion in their home quarterfinal 14-7. Although that's not as many
points scored, it's still a win, and that's all that's needed to make it to the next round in
the quarters and beyond.
Same goes for Stillman Valley, a team which had also averaged over 40 points per
game coming into the quarters. Newman held the Cardinals to “just” 21 points. Unlike
the rest of the games, domination wasn't how Stillman Valley beat Newman. It took
holding off a last-chance offensive strike by the Comets. Newman scored with seconds
left in the game to trail by one point at 21-20. A try for two points ended up being
repeated due to a Cardinal offsides call in the first try. With another chance to end it,
the try was stuffed.
Geneseo also won their quarterfinal game with not as many points. It took just 17 to
beat Mendota. The Maple Leafs have to go up against Richmond-Burton, a team that
beat Geneseo in last year's second round. The Rockets are also feeing the effects of
quarterfinal toughness: after averaging over 45 points per game after week six, they
were held to “just” 28 in a win over Johnsburg.
Sycamore had its best season in 30 years, having made it to the quarterfinal round.
However, Montini (which includes most of the legendary Driscoll program), was too
much for the Spartans, who fell 31-17.
Beyond Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois's semifinal games are often against teams from central or western
Illinois. Lexington, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley and Illini West all travel upward to meet
their opponents.
Since 2002, our area's small school teams (1A through 3A) are 10-4 against opponents
from southward. However, the area went 0-2 last year with Milledgeville losing to Stark
County and Oregon losing to Illini West. Area teams won each of these particular
matches in the semifinal from 2002 to 2004.
Illini West, the defending Class 3A champion, comes into Stillman Valley having scored
more than 600 points this season. They put up another pointfest against Wilmington by
scoring 43, but prevailed in overtime against the Wildcats' 41.
Gibson City has ended the seasons of Riverdale and Annawan/Wethersfield so far this
season, and also ended Mercer County's season by demolishing them 60-19.
Lexington is no stranger to the Northwest Upstate Illini, having played Galena and
Stockton in higher playoff games already this decade. The Minutemen have beaten
Fisher (23-14), LeRoy (20-12) and Alexis United (24-13) so far in the playoffs.
Review of Semis
Class 1A - Lexington (12-0) at Lena-Winslow (11-1) - Saturday @ 2:00 p.m.
Class 2A - Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley (11-1) at Morrison (12-0) - Saturday @ 2:00 p.m.
Class 3A - Carthage Illini West (12-0) at Stillman Valley (12-0) - Saturday @ 2:00 p.m.
Class 4A - Richmond-Burton (11-1) at Geneseo (10-2) - Saturday @ 1:00 p.m.
-Cody
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