Suburban Life football notes: York poised for another deep playoff run, but wary of matchup with H-F

York football coach Mike Fitzgerald is starting to reap the benefits of a plan he envisioned several years ago.

When Fitzgerald inherited the varsity job at York, he quickly noticed a program with immense potential. The Dukes struggled competing in football, yet had several dominant runs in a wide variety of sports.

In 2018, Fitzgerald’s first season led to a 4-5 record, which was more wins than the previous two seasons combined.

The breakthrough came last season, when the Dukes compiled a historic number of achievements that ended with a 12-1 record and a Class 8A semifinal appearance.

Now, with the playoffs set to start this weekend, the Dukes have not missed a beat in winning eight of their nine regular season games. York, the No. 5 seed in Class 8A, takes on Homewood-Flossmoor (5-4) at 1 p.m. Saturday in their playoff opener in Elmhurst.

Fitzgerald said his team is ready for the challenge of battling H-F.

“(H-F) has great team speed and size to go along with it on both sides of the ball,” Fitzgerald said. “They are multiple on offense and aggressive on defense. They play in a good conference and have played a lot of quality teams, so definitely a good team that has been tested. The last few weeks they have been playing playoff football to get in and also playing at a really high level.”

Fitzgerald said the Vikings are an explosive team capable of lighting up the scoreboard. Homewood-Flossmoor defeated Marian Catholic 54-47 early in the regular season, relying on an explosive offense to go with a leaky defense. The Vikings have scored 251 points but allowed 249 points.

“We will need to do a great job playing team defense to contain their speed,” Fitzgerald said. “We will need to win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball being able to run the ball and stop the run. Ball security will also be critical as H-F has been very opportunistic on defense, so we need to make sure to take care of the football. Special teams is always a factor in playoff football so we need to win that phase as well.”

Fitzgerald said several players have stepped up to help the Dukes produce another big regular season after last season’s undefeated run. He noted the play of senior linebacker Marquan Brewster to go with linebacker Joey Maucieri and Jimmy Connors.

“Marquan Brewster has come back from a knee injury suffered in the winter and has been a great addition to our defense late in the year,” he said. “He has worked his tail off to get back so just great to have him back on the field. He’s an extremely physical player that can do a lot of different things for us.

“Joey Maucieri is another linebacker who has had a great season for us and will have a huge role on Saturday. Joey has a great motor and can play downhill, sideline to sideline, great blitzer from the linebacker spot, and also is very athletic and is excellent in coverage. Jimmy Conners is a really versatile football player who has played multiple spots for us this year on both sides of the ball. His stats might not be off the charts, but he has really made a huge impact on our team this year and is a really good football player.”

Cam Williams ready to make noise in the playoffs.

Glenbard South senior wide receiver Cam Williams is looking forward to a long run in the playoffs. After the Raiders were bounced from the Class 5A playoffs in a 48-22 running-clock home loss to Nazareth last season in the first round, the Notre Dame recruit said he’s aiming for a memorable run to close out his illustrious career.

Glenbard South (8-1) plays Chicago Noble in a Class 5A first-round playoff game at home at 6 p.m. Friday. The Raiders could potentially play Nazareth, who opens at Prairie Ridge, in the second round of the playoffs.

“It stinks that we went out in the first round and played a tough team like Nazareth, but I think with this new team this year, we have a different mindset which is going to help us,” Williams said. “We have to stay sound and play our game which will account for pulling out a win this weekend if we want to make a great run this year.”

Williams said he’s enjoyed his final season playing high school football before beginning his Notre Dame career.

“I’ve gotten the ball in many different ways and have scored and made big contributions in more ways than I have imagined, so I’m proud of my season,” Williams said. “High school football is special, and may be the most special years for most people, so it’s different weird knowing from here on that nothing is guaranteed.”

Extra points

Nazareth nearly missed the playoffs last season before running the table with an impressive run to win the 5A title. The Roadrunners sneaked into the playoffs with a 4-5 record this season…Glenbard West overcame a shaky start early in the season to win the West Suburban Silver Division championship.