8A Football Preview: Curie set to visit former Condors coach, Oswego East

As the final week of the regular season approached, former Chicago Curie football coach Tyson LeBlanc saw the potential for a Class 8A first round playoff game against the Condors.

LeBlanc, now in his fifth season at Oswego East, will see some familiar faces on the opposite sideline when the No. 16 Wolves (8-1) will host No. 17 Curie (8-1) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

LeBlanc took Curie to the IHSA state playoffs in all five seasons he coached there, from 2007-2015, and tied a state record with a 15-game season in 2010 after a long run in the CPS postseason bowl.

"With the 1-32 seed, we had an idea that we were looking at possibly three teams, and it was something that was always in the back of my mind to have the opportunity to play Curie," LeBlanc said. "And there it is."

Curie won its first CPS Illini Red Bird Conference championship since 2000 with a notable 28-21 win over Simeon – one of two playoff teams on the Condors' schedule. Morgan Park, seeded No. 3 in Class 6A, defeated Curie 36-34 earlier.Curie is led by junior quarterback Ja'Ki McNeil, who threw two touchdown passes in the win over Simeon, but that was due to the loss of running back Anthony Watson, who missed the last three games with an ankle injury. The Curie senior had 783 yards rushing through five games.

Curie has looked to freshman Steven Cheek and sophomore AJ Sanya out of the backfield in Watson's absence. Curie averaged 45.7 points per game and allowed just 10.6 this season.

"Our running back is out, so we're going to have hands full. We're a young team and we're up against a big test so hopefully we can meet that test," Curie coach Jay McDonagh said. "Their conference is good and they have a strong program. The coach has done a nice job building it up and it'll be a big challenge for us, and one that we're excited to play."

But LeBlanc isn't convinced the Wolves won't see Watson on the field.

"I'm expecting Anthony Watson to play," LeBlanc said. "I think that's one of the reasons they held him out, and I don't know the extend of his injury, but I expect him to be on the field on Saturday. They are very young, but for them to do the things they've done with a young team is a great credit to their coaching staff.

"With the connection I have, I'm sure I'm more familiar with them then they are with us. I'm sure they don't pay much attention to what we're doing our here, but for me when I'm checking scores and stats, I like to keep up with what they're doing. I had a good five years there."

Oswego East finished its best regular season in school history, improving to 8-1 with Friday’s 46-9 win over Plainfield East (2-7). The Wolves have two previous postseason appearances in Class 7A. Oswego East led the Southwest Prairie with 380 points scored (42.2 points per game) and finished second overall.

"When you put those type of points on the board, people automatically assume you're an offense team, but I don't know if that was ever the case with us," LeBlanc said. "For us as a program, our offense has caught up with what our defense has been doing."

The winner of Saturday’s first round game will advance to play the winner of the first-round game between No. 1 Loyola Academy (9-0) and no. 32 O’Fallon (5-4). Those two teams meet on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Wilmette.