Princeton, St. Bede prepare for IHSA playoff openers

The Princeton Tigers and the St. Bede Bruins are set to embark on openers in the 2023 IHSA football playoffs.

The Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio Clippers start to set sail to make a return trip to the Illinois 8-Man Football Association finals.

Here’s a look at their first-round matchups:

Class 3A: No. 15 Paxton-Buckley-Loda (5-4) at No. 2 Princeton (8-1), 1 p.m. Saturday at Bryant Field

Princeton coach Ryan Pearson said the Associated Press Class 3A No. 2-ranked Tigers are excited for an opportunity to open the playoffs at home where they are 6-3 since 2018 in the postseason.

“It’s a great honor and exciting time for our kids. Any time you’re in the final 256 field, it shows a lot what our kids accomplished this year,” he said. “To have another game in the ‘Jungle’ is just icing on the cake.”

This is a rematch of the 2019 quarterfinal game won by the Tigers 38-12 at Bryant Field.

P-B-L comes in battled test from the Illini Prairie Conference, with losses to Class 2A No. 3-ranked Bloomington Central Catholic (9-0), Class 3A No. 8 St. Joseph-Ogden (7-2) and Class 3A RV Tolono Unity (7-2).

“Their conference is pretty tough. They’re coming in 5-4, but they’ve obviously played some pretty good football teams,” Pearson said. “They’ve got some unique things that they do well. We have to make sure we’re prepared for it.”

“Their running back is pretty special. He’s a 5-10, 200-pound kid, and I think he accounts for 65% of their offense. They’ve got good athletes and good kids up front. We’re certainly going to have a challenge in front of us.”

Saturday’s winner will meet the winner between No. 10 Monmouth-Roseville (5-4) at No. 7 North Boone (6-3) from Friday night. The Tigers would host North Boone but face a road trip to Monmouth, which they beat in this year’s season opener. PHS also beat North Boone in a first-round playoff game in 2019 at home.

In the 2019 game, Princeton’s Max Taylor suffered a neck injury and left the field by ambulance. P-B-L coach Josh Pritchard asked to pray together as teams after the game at midfield. Taylor was never able to play again.

Class 1A: No. 14 St. Bede (5-4) at No. 3 Chicago Hope (8-1), 2 p.m. Saturday at Altgeld Field, Chicago

This first-round matchup is a rematch of the 2021 playoff opener won by the Bruins 30-19 at the Academy. St. Bede coach Jim Eustice notes the Eagles have a lot of experience in their skill spots with a lot of their players playing as sophomores two years ago at St. Bede, including quarterback Eddie Jenkins Jr., who threw two touchdown passes in the 2021 game, and running back Jamarkus Lofton.

Hope’s best win of the season came in Week 4, winning 30-29 over Wheaton Academy, which is 8-1 and a No. 4 seed in the Class 4A playoffs.

Their only loss was 27-22 to Aurora Christian, a Class 1A No. 6 seed, in Week 3.

Eustice said the Bruins will have their work cut out with a much faster Hope team.

“We just have to try to keep them in front of us and make tackles, and try not to give up any of the big plays we’ve seen on film,” he said. “If they get the ball in space, they’re definitely faster than we are, so we have to make sure we can tackle and rally to the football and get multiple guys there to try to bring them down.”

For the Bruins to be successful on offense, Eustice said, “We need to do what we do.”

“Our passing game has come alive over the last couple weeks. We’ve been able to run it for the most part this year,” he said. “We’re definitely going to want to try to run the ball a little more than we have the last two weeks to try and control the clock a little.”

The winner of this game will meet the winner of the Friday matchup between No. 11 Gibson City-Melvin Sibley (6-3) at No. 6 Aurora Christian (7-2). The Bruins would host Aurora Christian, but travel to GC-MS.

Illinois 8-Man Football Association: No. 15 Kirkland Hiawatha (4-5) at No. 2 Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio (9-0), 2 p.m., Saturday

The Clippers reached the I8FA state championship game last year, falling to Jason Kirby’s West Central Heat. They are favored to return as one of only two undefeated teams in the eight-man ranks, joining No. 1 St. Thomas More.

A-L-O has defeated six teams in the 16-team playoff field by a combined margin of 312-96 (52-16).