The depth of the Class 8A playoff field made for a great first round. Now is when the playoffs really get good.
There are no wide-open paths to the quarterfinals this year as all 16 remaining teams have looked capable of making a deep playoff run at one point or another this year.
As good as the first round was, six of the 16 games proved to be mismatches with lopsided outcomes.
No. 2 Homewood-Flossmoor was not sharp in its first-round home game, according to its coach, and still beat Evanston by four touchdowns.
Like most-to-all second-round games, H-F will have a much tougher test on the road Saturday against Glenbard West.
A head coach in Indiana from 1994-2009, H-F’s Craig Buzea is still getting used to the idea of alternating home and road games in the playoffs.
“It is a little different, that is for sure,” said Buzea, who has turned a sleeping giant into one of the most feared programs in Illinois in his seven seasons as the Vikings’ coach. “I have always been a proponent of the highest seed should host no matter what. I said that when we weren’t a high seed. You work your tail off the whole season to get something out of it.
“It becomes a disadvantage to be the higher seed. Most teams with the higher seed would rather play their first game on the road so they can play the second game at home.”
Now there’s an idea the Sometimes-Weekly Picks Blog can get behind, with a minor tweak. Why not let higher-seed teams decide whether they want to play their first-round game at home or on the road?
Depending on what a team’s bracket look like — say, it sets up for a possible second-round road game against a team with an 17-2 playoff record and two state championships since 2012 — a coach, like Buzea said, would prefer to open on the road so they can be home for a much more difficult second-round game.
Well, it turns out the IHSA’s football committee did consider this very idea a few years back.
It never got further than the discussion phase, however, because the consensus in the room was that while coaches would favor such a change, athletic directors and principals would never agree to give up the cash infusion a first-round home game guarantees. If their team went on the road and lost, they’d be out of luck.
As for alternating home and road rather than having the higher-seeded team always play host, I can’t get behind that. The seeding system itself isn’t fair (strength of schedule is barely a factor), so to me using it alone to determine home field is actually a worse system than the one we’ve got.
So H-F will head to foreign territory on Saturday afternoon to take on a team that draws a tremendous amount of strength from its unique home setting.
The whole home-road thing doesn’t always matter in high school football the way it does on the higher levels, but it matters here.
There’s a huge difference between playing Glenbard West on Duchon Field’s muddy grass surface and hosting Glenbard West on turf.
That difference is H-F’s speed, which Glenbard West will be able to neutralize just enough to record a 24-21 victory.
Oswego East (9-1) at Loyola (10-0): Now a 10-team league, the Southwest Prairie is athletic director heaven. There is nothing to schedule. For now anyway. Point being, it’s hard to judge the success of these Oswego teams this season, especially in a conference that doesn’t have a great postseason track record. Yeah, I think I’ll go with the Ramblers. Loyola 42-14.
Fremd (7-3) at Huntley (7-3): In addition to its 45-42 stunner over Brother Rice, Fremd has beaten New Trier and gave Barrington, Palatine and Lake Zurich good battles. Weeks ago, one of those coaches told us Fremd is better than people realize. As for me and the sometimes weekly picks blog, we believe. Fremd 27-23.
Edwardsville (9-1) at Oswego (10-0): We’re not trying to get on Oswego’s case here. It’s a really good program they’re running out there. The Panthers probably aren’t overjoyed about the conference-only schedule, because in the past they did take advantage of open dates to schedule strong teams. That’s what Edwardsville does, and the Tigers also have the benefit of a better conference. They played East St. Louis better than anybody this season, dropping a 20-10 decision on Sept. 30 for their lone loss. They also beat Oak Park last week. Experience against better competition is often the difference. Edwardsville 17-10.
Waubonsie Valley (6-4) at Lincoln-Way East (8-2): When the Sometimes-Weekly Picks Blog sniffs out a live dog the way we did last week with 31st-seeded Waubonsie, we tend to stick with ’em. With a Kenny Rogers tune in our head, we’re going against tendency. LWE 34-21.
Barrington (9-1) at Maine South (7-3): Barrington’s 41-27 victory over the Hawks in Week 3 was in Barrington, and this is certainly one of those cases where the Broncos would have preferred to be on the road last week against Leyden so they could be in Barrington again for the Hawks. It’s been a great year for Barrington and the entire Mid-Suburban League regardless of what happens going forward. Our concern for the Broncos is that they had just seven points through nearly three quarters of their 28-7 victory over Leyden. Maine South is going to score. Maine South 35-31.
Palatine (10-0) at Lyons (8-2): The loss of quarterback Zach Oles to a broken collarbone was a huge blow for Palatine. The injury rightfully overshadowed the ease with which the Pirates handled a pretty good Notre Dame team in their 34-0 first-round victory. Oles doesn’t play defense. That unit will support backup QB D.J. Angelaccio, who played well in Oles’ stead. Palatine 21-3.
St. Charles East (10-0) at New Trier (8-2): We’re probably not being fair to you, St. Charles East. If a more established winner had your record and point differential (419-105 following last week’s 45-0 drubbing of Lockport) in a conference that included a power like Batavia and another good team like St. Charles North, we would be showering you with adulation. You’ve obviously got this triple-option thing down, and the Sometimes-Weekly Picks Blog loves to ride good triple-option teams like Cary-Grove and Prairie Ridge in the postseason. New Trier has not seen an offense like this. OK, you’ve convinced us, St. Charles East. We’ve never seen you, but we’re with you until you lose. Or until you play Loyola. St. Charles East 28-24.
