Minooka preparing for familiar foe – 8A’s top-ranked Lincoln-Way East

The Minooka Indians gathered around one another Friday night at William Howard Taft High School. They’d just beaten the host Eagles 37-6 in the opening round of the Class 8A playoffs, and the coaching staff started talking about what they did well and where they could improve.

Then the talk began about what was next.

There was no mystery, as top-seeded Lincoln-Way East was on the other side of the bracket waiting for Minooka as the Griffins have been so often these past few years. Head coach Matt Harding and his staff talked about being ready for the challenge. Then assistant coach Kevin Cain gave the line that will likely be the moniker for the week.

“[Lincoln-Way East] are titans,” Cain said. “To be the best, you have to slay a titan.”

Minooka will host Lincoln-Way East at 6 p.m. Friday in the second round of the 8A playoffs. This will be the third time in four years they’ve faced off in the postseason. The first, in 2021, Lincoln-Way East won 35-7. The second time was last year, when the Griffins ended the Indians’ season with a 28-0 victory.

Now, Harding and Co. will be hoping the third time is the charm.

“We’re excited about the challenge,” Harding said. “We just have to focus on ourselves and take it one play at a time. ... We need to focus on us and the process. I can’t control what the other team does or what the officials do. All we can do is focus on us.”

The Indians have seen a lot of success over the past decade. They’ve advanced to the second round or better for seven straight seasons, including two trips to the 8A quarterfinals with an 11-1 finish in 2019.

This year’s group has gotten it done thanks in large part to a quality defense that’s allowed only 145 points over 10 games. Aside from a 42-10 loss to Oswego, the defense hasn’t allowed more than 22 points and has held opponents to 14 or less seven times with one shutout.

“Our defense helps out a lot,” quarterback Zane Caves said. “They’re probably the best part of our team right now. They always bring that energy to practice, and they have that energy in everything that they do. I think that helps us be a better offense, especially in practice.”

Credit the Minooka offense, too, for its solid play throughout the year. They’re averaging 31.4 points per game this season and have scored 37 or more four times, including a season-high 70 against Joliet Central in Week 3. The multi-player rushing attack has helped get them there, while Caves and receiver Ty Couch praised the offensive line after Friday’s win.

Caves completed 17 passes against Taft to six receivers for 297 yards. While Couch hauled in five catches for 81 yards and two scores, Harding was most impressed with Caves’ ability to spread the ball around and the ability of multiple receivers to play well against a 7-2 Eagles team.

“Zane made several passes to Ty today, but also spread the ball to Brady Hairald and Jackson Miranda,” Harding said. “Good teams are going to take people away, so you have to be able to go to your second read, your third read and spread the football out when they do that. It’s going to be a test next week, and our coaches and kids are looking forward to it.”

A test indeed.

Lincoln-Way East is undefeated, with its closest game being a 29-7 win over 9-1 Naperville Central. The Griffins have gone 34-2 the past three seasons, with both losses coming in the state championship game. They have Northwestern commit Caden O’Rourke and Michigan-offered Jacob Alexander on defense, with Miami (OH) commit Trey Zvonar on offense along with Oregon commit Jonas Williams at QB.

So, yeah, a test it will be.

With that said, this is a Minooka team that’s believed in itself all season. It’s resulted in eight wins and two losses so far. They’ve come close for several years, but now the Indians will need to – as Cain said – slay a titan.

For what it’s worth, Minooka has the confidence of a titan-slayer.

“It’s going to take the mindset and mentality that you believe you can win,” Couch said. “We just have to buy in that we can win it, that there’s no one better than us, and then we can go in there and do what we’ve got to do.”