By Greg Halbleib
Central Illinois high school football is well represented in Saturday’s quarterfinal playoff round as six area squads remain alive.
WJBC.com is providing play-by-play of three contests, Normal Community at Libertyville at 1 p.m., Deer Creek-Mackinaw at Tri-Valley at 2 p.m. and St. Joseph-Ogden at Central Catholic at 4 p.m. Click here to listen.
In Class 1A, LeRoy (8-3) hosts the team that eliminated them from the 2014 post-season, eventual Class 1A runner-up Carrollton (10-1) at 2 p.m. LeRoy coach B.J. Zeleznik is familiar with the aggressive defense of the visiting Hawks.
“They stack the box and they challenge you,” said Zeleznik. “We’re going to have to be able to have some success on the perimeter and we’re going to have to throw the ball a little bit and loosen them up or they’re going to leave nine guys in the box and they’re going to come downhill.”
Another Class 1A battle matches two 11-0 teams as perennial power Arcola visits Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley for a 2 p.m. kick-off.
In Class 2A, Heart of Illinois Conference foes rematch as Deer Creek-Mackinaw (9-2) faces Tri-Valley (11-0) in a 2 p.m. contest in Downs. The host Vikings won the regular season meeting of the schools 62-21in Week 5 on September 25, also in Downs.
“Our game plan this time is stopping (the running game) or at least making them go to another option,” said Dee-Mack coach Job Linboom.
Line play is important to the unbeaten Vikings. “We’ve got to step up and play well in the trenches because they do a really good job up front,” said Tri-Valley coach Josh Roop.
Central Catholic (10-1) returns home to Bill Hundman Memorial Field for a 4 p.m. kick-off against unbeaten St. Joseph-Ogden in a Class 3A tilt. Saints coach Mike Moews hopes to exploit some opportunities.
“I think they have some weaknesses that we need to take advantage of, certainly passing the ball,” said Moews. “They’ve got some coverage areas that I think we can take advantage of, but we really need to secure the line of scrimmage.”
Normal Community (10-1) travels to Libertyville (11-0) for a 1 p.m. start in Class 7A. NCHS coach Wes Temples says the Ironmen have their work cut out for them as they try to contain Libertyville’s quarterback, Northwestern recruit Riley Lees.
“You have to be able to contain him,” said Temples, “and can’t allow him to make plays long because that’s when you have breakdowns. You can’t give big plays to this kid or their offense.”
Click here for play-by-play of Normal Community at Libertyville, Dee-Mack at Tri-Valley and St. Joseph-Ogden at Central Catholic. Scores can be found on the WJBC Facebook page and the Extravaganza Twitter feed (@WJBCHSFootball, #WJBCHSFB).
