November 14, 2024
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IHSA football: DeKalb County second-round playoff preview

By Eddie Carifio
Sycamore's Dylan Hodges gets by Westinghouse's Justis Watts on his way to the end zone Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 during their Class 5A second-round playoff game at Knute Rockne Stadium in Chicago.

Sycamore's Dylan Hodges gets by Westinghouse's Justis Watts on his way to the end zone during their Class 5A second-round playoff game at Knute Rockne Stadium in Chicago. (Mark Busch)

Class 5A

No. 4 St. Francis (9-2) at No. 1 Sycamore (11-0)

When: 1 p.m. Saturday, Sycamore

About St. Francis: They have an explosive scoring capability, as witnessed by Zach Washington’s 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Prairie Ridge last week, negating some early momentum for the Wolves in the Spartans’ 30-21 win. Washington, a Class 5A All-Stater, also had a 95-yard kickoff return for a TD and 92-yard TD on a reverse in a first-round win over Sterling. Tanner Glock had a 63-yard run, a 10-yard touchdown reception and an interception on defense last week. Dario Milivojevic had a 68-yard touchdown catch from Brady Palmer in the game as well. Palmer threw for 245 yards and three TDs in the win. The Spartans are in the quarterfinals for the third straight year and the fourth time in coach Bob McMillen’s eight years. They lost to eventual state champion Nazareth last year in the semifinals, 38-31. Their losses this year were 31-13 to St. Rita and 27-25 to Providence. They do give up points – they’ve surrendered 21 or more in eight games this year.

About the Sycamore Spartans: They haven’t been tested so far in a playoff game, rolling Westinghouse last week 69-12 after opening the postseason with a 50-8 win over Noble/Bulls. In fact, since a 25-19 Week 4 win against Rochelle, they’ve only played one game decided by less than 28 points – and that was a 28-13 win against La Salle-Peru in which they scored the first 28 points. They’ve scored at least 40 in their last four games, and that includes a 42-0 win against a Morris team still alive in the postseason. Senior quarterback Burke Gautcher leads the offense, completing 65.9% of his passes for 1,661 yards, 17 touchdowns and just one interception. He’s got a lot of speedy options to throw to, including Carter York (31-546-3), Aidan Wyzard (21-626-9) and Josiah Mitchell (23-281-3). On the ground, Dylan Hodges put up over 100 yards in just a half against Westinghouse, putting him at 698 yards this year to go with seven scores. Kevin Lee has rushed for 452 yards and 14 touchdowns, and Gautcher has 229 yards and eight touchdowns. Only DeKalb and Rochelle have scored 19 or more points against Sycamore in a game this year, and the Spartans shut out Ottawa and Morris. The defense can force a lot of turnovers, with York picking off five passes this year, Caden O’Donnell four and Cooper Bode two. They’ve also forced seven fumbles and averaged two forced turnovers a game.

FND pick: St. Francis