Suburban Life football preview capsules for the semifinal round of the 2022 playoffs

Here are previews of the semifinal playoff games for all the teams from around the Suburban Life coverage area.

Class 8A

No. 5 Glenbard West (11-1) at No. 1 Lincoln-Way East (12-0)

When: 1 p.m. Saturday

About the Hilltoppers: Glenbard West survived a barnburner of a quarterfinal at Maine South, coming away with a 37-34 win. Julius Ellens ran for 135 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries for the Hilltoppers, who successfully executed two onside kicks to build a 31-21 halftime lead and then held off the Hawks. After initially believed to be a fill-in for injury at the RB position Ellens has entrenched himself in the backfield rotation, getting the lion’s share of the carries. Ellens’ emergence has allowed Joey Pope to move primarily to the defensive side of the ball, but the speedster still checks in on the offensive side of the ball from time to time. QB Korey Tai is sort of a mirror image of Lincoln-Way East’s Braden Tischer in the ability he has to make things happen with a limited number of passing attempts and if that fails being able to tuck the ball away and slash up a defense for big gains. The Hilltoppers are hoping to advance to their first championship game since winning the 2015 Class 7A title.

About the Griffins: Lincoln-Way East continues to be a case study on how good one can be when everyone is in unison. The Griffins aren’t flashy, but they absolutely know how to extract the most out of the talent they have and are merciless as exposing opponent’s weaknesses. Offensively, Lincoln-Way East seems to be able to plug in whatever type of offensive attack that will net the best results on a given day. With its typically potent rushing attack slowed a bit from its usual exceptional production, Lincoln-Way East switched gears and got most of its success through the air in its quarterfinal win over Warren as QB Braden Tischer threw three touchdown passes including an 80-yard strike to WR Jimmy Curtin. The defensive unit continues to be excellent and was tossing a shutout against Warren until a pair of special teams miscues allowed Warren to net a pair of late touchdowns. The defensive unit has some standouts, notably LB Jake Scianna and DE Caden O’Rourke, but quite possibly the best thing about this defensive unit is its ability to play as one cohesive unit that rarely has anyone out of place.

Up next: The winner advances to the championship game against the winner of No. 2 York (12-0) and No. 6 Loyola (11-1).

Friday Night Drive pick: Lincoln-Way East

No. 6 Loyola (11-1) at No. 2 York (12-0)

When: 1 p.m. Saturday

About the Ramblers: Loyola is making its 11th semifinal appearance in the last 13 postseasons. The Ramblers are facing an opponent from the West Suburban Silver for the second consecutive week. Loyola scored on its first three drives and quarterback Jake Stearney threw four touchdown passes to lead the Ramblers past Lyons 30-17 last week. Stearney threw for 171 yards and rushed for 38 in the game. Loyola has had to reshape its rushing attack its last two games since junior leading rusher Will Nimesheim was lost for the season with a knee injury. Sophomore Luke Foster led the team with 57 rushing yards on 20 touches last week while 220-pound Johnny McGuire could be one to keep an eye on. Whoever is rushing the ball has the benefit of running behind a massive offensive line. Stearney threw for 26 TDs during the regular season. Declan Forde had 10 of those TDs and caught 31 passes for 650 yards.

About the Dukes: York got a serious gut check in its quarterfinal game with Palatine, but responded with flying colors. Matt Vezza ran for two second-half touchdowns as the Dukes rallied from down 10-7 after three quarters for a 24-10 win. As the playoffs have progressed, York has leaned more on Vezza as a rushing threat. He ran for a 153 yards on a season-high 28 carries against Palatine after carrying the ball 26 times for 142 yards and three TDs against Marist. Jake Melion also rushed for 108 yards and a 41-yard TD against Palatine. The York defense led by Ashton Nawrocki, All-State linebacker Cole Ostendorf and Evan Grazzini held Palatine to its fewest points this season. Now it gets another huge challenge against a Loyola offense that averaged 42.3 points in the regular season and has averaged 40.3 points in three playoff wins. York, in its second semifinal appearance – first since 2006 – has never advanced to the state championship game.

Up next: The winner advances to the championship game against the winner between No. 1 Lincoln-Way East (12-0) and No. 5 Glenbard West (11-1).

FND pick: Loyola

Class 6A

East St. Louis (10-2) at Lemont (12-0)

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

About the Flyers: East St. Louis has played exactly like you’d expect a favorite to play as it has steamrolled through the first three rounds of the playoffs recording three shutouts and piling up 156 points in those three running clock wins. Even without the state’s player of the year, Luther Burden, who is now at Missouri, the Flyers offense is extremely dynamic and has multiple players capable of the home run ball at any time. Engineering the offensive attack is Robert “Pops” Battle who has thrown for just under 2,000 yards and 21 scores to date. Sophomore running back TaRyan Martin has just eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing with 17 scores as well. East St. Louis’ offensive stats aren’t as gaudy as they could be as many of the contests get out of hand rather quickly. The offense gets deserved headlines, but the defense might be even better. Dominic Dixon is the anchor of the defense and is closing in 150 tackles on the season. Dixon is also one of three players that have recorded 10 sacks on the season along with Antwon Hayden and KeShawn Hayden. The Flyers also have a couple of ballhawks in the secondary as Sael Reyes and Jaion Jackson lead a secondary with five interceptions each.

About Lemont: Lemont had to break its seasonal mold a bit in grinding out a 14-0 win over Kenwood in the quarterfinals. Lemont’s offense was kept reasonably in check by the Broncos, but the largely unheralded piece of the Lemont juggernaut, its defensive unit stepped into the spotlight. Lemont held Kenwood to just over 100 yards of total offense on a night when it needed to considering Lemont’s powerhouse offense was kept largely in check. Lemont’s first touchdown was actually a offensive fumble recovery that was set up by a blocked punt and it was forced to lean a little bit more heavily on running back Nathan Wrublik than usually. QB Payton Salomon was held without a touchdown pass for one of the few times in his high school career and will look to get back to his high percentage passing ways against an opponent that will make that quest extremely difficult. The biggest key for Lemont will be limiting mistakes to the smallest level possible while affording East St. Louis as little possession of the football as possible.

Up next: The winner advances to the championship game against the winner of No. 4 St. Ignatius (10-2) and No. 2 Prairie Ridge (11-1)

FND pick: East St. Louis

Class 5A

No. 11 Nazareth (8-4) at No. 1 Sycamore (12-0)

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

About the Roadrunners: Nazareth is one of three four-loss teams remaining in the playoffs across all eight brackets, but don’t be fooled by that record. The young Roadrunners are red-hot, winners of six straight games dating back to Week 7 with a 29.8 point margin of victory over those six games. All four of Nazareth’s losses came to teams that reached at least the quarterfinals in higher classifications, two of them still alive in semifinals. Wisconsin recruit Justin Taylor ran for two touchdowns and Nazareth held Morgan Park to 113 yards of total offense in a 29-0 quarterfinal win. Nazareth seeks its sixth championship game appearance since 2015, first since 2019 when the Roadrunners took second place in Class 7A. Sophomore QB Logan Malachuk has thrown for 2,079 yards and 13 TDs with eight interceptions on the season. Three players have over 30 catches on the season – sophomore James Penley and seniors Zach Hayes and Taylor. Sophomore Alex Angulo is Nazareth’s leading rusher with 608 yards and nine TDs. Sophomore defensive end/edge Gabe Kaminski, who holds offers from Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee and Wisconsin, has 62 tackles, 30 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks.

About Spartans: Sterling became the latest victim of the Sycamore defense last week as the Spartans shutout the Golden Warriors 28-0. And Sterling came in with a potent offense that had scored at least 50 points four times this year. But big games from Zack Crawford, Kiefer Tarnoki, Lincoln Cooley and Joey Puleo propelled the win. .Crawford also had his second big week in a row at running back. He averaged more than 6 yards per carry and had a touchdown, plus picked up a key fourth-and-short in Sterling territory after a Burke Gautcher interception. That led to a Tyler Curtis touchdown run on the next play and a three-score lead. .The shutout was the sixth of the year of the Spartans and second in the playoffs. They’ve recorded shutouts in five of their last six games, all against playoff teams.

Up next: The winner advances to the championship game against the winner between No. 4 Morris (10-2) and No. 3 Peoria (11-1)

FND pick: Sycamore

Class 4A

No. 13 Providence (8-4) at No. 3 St. Francis (11-1)

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

About the Celtics: It has been a fantastic run for the No. 13 seeded Providence Celtics who seem to be branding new heroes on a week to week basis. It’s been almost impossible to single out a player or two for kudos as so many players are contributing to Providence’s success on a game-to-game basis. QB Lucas Proudfoot had arguably the best game of his season in throwing for 240 yards on 8-of-11 completions as the Celtics ousted top-seeded Richmond-Burton in the quarterfinal round. Proudfoot spread the ball around nicely and provides an enigma for opposing defenses as he doesn’t key on any one player to move the ball downfield. RB Jamari Tribett has also been a consistent source of offense but sometimes disappears as a focal point of the offense as others have proved capable of shouldering the load. On the defensive side of the ball it is even harder to detect who might lead the way. But one thing is for certain, someone is likely to step up and make a play when Providence needs it most. Special teams has been a particular source of success for Providence and any place the Celtics can grab even the slightest edge they will take willingly.

About the Spartans: St. Francis finally met a little bit of resistance in the playoffs after back-to-back shutouts to start the postseason, beating Rochelle 33-16 in a quarterfinal. Obviously, Providence presents an interesting challenge for St. Francis as its ability to piece together productivity for all over the roster but St. Francis also has some weapons all over the field to use in an attempt to put the shoe on the other foot in regards to this week’s opponent. All-State two-way lineman TJ McMillen, an Illinois recruit, is a terror for opposing teams to have to deal with while St. Francis has had few problems on the offensive side of the ball as QB Alessio Milivojevic tends to put the offensive unit in great position to succeed. Kent State bound WR Dash Dorsey is a game breaker that needs to be attended and while it is far from his only responsibility long snapper Nick Duzansky is an Oregon commit that contributes in as many ways as St. Francis can find for him. Wideout Deshaun Williams has provided a boost since his return from injury and had seven catches for 110 yards at Rochelle last week. Brady Piper has rushed for 213 yards and five TDs in three playoff games. Danny French enjoyed a huge game defensively last week at Rochelle, has 21 tackles and four sacks in the playoffs and is among the ringleaders defensively for St. Francis along with linebacker Dom Beres. St. Francis has been building something special under sixth-year head coach Bob McMillen. Now the Spartans seek a statement win over a CCL/ESCC power, and seek the program’s first championship game appearance since winning the 2008 Class 5A championship.

Up next: The winner advances to the championship game against the winner of No. 4 Rochester (11-1) and No. 2 Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (12-0)

FND pick: Providence

Class 3A

No. 6 Byron [11-1] at No. 4 IC Catholic Prep (11-1)

When: 3 p.m. Saturday

About the Tigers: Defending Class 3A state champion Byron certainly has a knack for late-game heroics. In a near repeat of last year’s quarterfinal, freshman fullback Caden Considine took in a 1-yard TD run with 12 seconds left to pull out a 32-27 win over Reed-Custer. Folks in Elmhurst are no stranger to Byron’s late magic. Byron last year scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes with a game-winning 2-point conversion with five seconds left to stun IC Catholic 15-14. Byron, state runner-up in 2018 and 2019, seeks its fourth straight championship game appearance. The Tigers have won 11 consecutive games since a 15-7 overtime Week 1 loss to Stillman Valley, who IC Catholic beat in the second round of the playoffs. Senior QB Braden Smith is the driving force of Byron’s power wing-T offense. The Tigers, with 4,075 rushing yards over 12 games, has five players who have run for 400 or more yards. Smith has run for 478 yards and nine TDs, Considine 665 yards and nine TDs and Carsen Behn 544 yards and eight TDs. Byron has attempted just 48 passes all season.
Considine is the oldest son of Byron defensive coordinator Sean Considine, himself a former All-Stater at Byron who went on play for eight seasons in the NFL.

About the Knights: IC Catholic Prep, like Byron, pulled a bit of a rabbit out of its hat to get here. The Knights rallied from a two-touchdown halftime deficit at Princeton for a 27-20 quarterfinal win in overtime. Junior Joey Gliatta, who had just six carries on the season coming into the game, rushed for 182 yards on 22 carries with three TDs, two in the second half with the game-winner in overtime. Gliatta, with 64 tackles, is also the second-leading tackler on the Knights’ defense, behind only senior Jesse Smith’s 67. Junior QB Dennis Mandala has had a spectacular season, completing 69.4% of his passes for 2,352 yards and 32 TDs with just four interceptions. His top target is fellow junior All-Stater KJ Parker, who has 33 catches for 966 yards and 15 TDs. The Knights downplay it, but the memory of last year’s bitter loss to Byron in the final seconds is surely a motivator going into this one. IC Catholic seeks its first championship game appearance since winning three straight state titles from 2016-2018.

Up next: The winner advances to the quarterfinal round against the winner between No. 4 Tolono Unity (11-1) and No. 3 Williamsville (11-1)

FND pick: IC Catholic Prep