Northwest Herald area notes: Fox Valley Conference has rough first round

You can’t win them all.

And you can’t send four teams to the playoff quarterfinals every year.

The Fox Valley Conference celebrated an extraordinary season in 2021 when four teams – Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake Central and Prairie Ridge in Class 6A, and Jacobs in 7A – advanced to the playoff quarterfinals. Cary-Grove advanced to win the state title over East St. Louis 37-36 in a classic game.

This season, the first week of the playoffs was unkind to the FVC. Prairie Ridge is the only FVC team still standing, after outlasting Crystal Lake South 63-55 in a Class 6A game Saturday.

The other two FVC teams, Huntley in 8A and Jacobs in 7A, were defeated by lower-seeded teams in home games Friday. No. 24 Andrew beat Huntley 28-18 in Class 8A; No. 24 Brother Rice shut out Jacobs 27-0 in Class 7A.

The FVC is considered among the best conferences in the state. Either Cary-Grove or Prairie Ridge has played in each of the past five Class 6A state championship games, with each winning two state titles.

In 2016, the FVC also had four quarterfinal teams: C-G and Prairie Ridge (6A), Jacobs (7A) and Huntley (8A).

But this season will not go down as a banner year.

Rough draw: Jacobs returned 16 starters from a team that hoped for another deep playoff run after sharing the FVC title with Huntley and Prairie Ridge, but the Golden Eagles were ousted by a team from arguably the state’s toughest conference.

Brother Rice plays in the CCL/ESCC Blue Division with Loyola, Mount Carmel and Marist. The Crusaders’ losses came against those three and a crossover against St. Rita. Loyola is No. 1 and Marist is No. 9 in Class 8A; Mount Carmel is No. 1 and St. Rita is No. 4 in 7A.

When Jacobs saw its draw, it knew Brother Rice could be the best 5-4 team in the state.

Brother Rice’s defense was just too much for Jacobs, which had pounded out yards all year with its running game. Against the Crusaders, the Eagles did not reach 100 yards rushing.

Jacobs coach Brian Zimmerman felt linebackers Christian Pierce (6-0, 205 pounds) and Jack Morrison were the keys, along with defensive lineman Roderick Pierce III (6-2, 280). Roderick Pierce, a senior and Christian’s brother, is committed to Wisconsin. Christian is a sophomore.

“We knew Nos. 11 (Christian Pierce) and 2 (Morrison) were going to be the guys,” Zimmerman said. “We tried to run away from No. 55 (Roderick Pierce) a little bit. We just couldn’t put it together.”

Jacobs did something it had not accomplished since 2013 in winning the FVC title, but it wanted more after last year’s playoff run equaled the best in school history.

“It’s been everything,” said offensive lineman Kyle Koziel, a four-year varsity player. “I can’t put into words how much this has meant to me. I was pulled up as a freshman and we were 3-6. Sophomore year was COVID year. The bond is insane, I love all of these guys.”

Climbing fast: In the past three weeks, Prairie Ridge quarterback Tyler Vasey has rushed for 1,115 yards and 15 touchdowns, and the Wolves needed every bit of it to subdue Crystal Lake South (twice) and Crystal Lake Central in high-scoring games.

Vasey’s 392 yards in Saturday’s 63-55 victory over South in their Class 6A first-round playoff game tied the single-game playoff rushing record in that class.

Vasey now has 2,835 yards, 11th on the list according to ihsa.org. At his current pace, Vasey has a shot at the IHSA season rushing record (3,325) set by Lexington’s T.J. Stinde in 2009.

No. 2-seeded Prairie Ridge (9-1) hosts No. 7 Kaneland (7-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the second round.

IHSA TOP RUSHING SEASONS

South goes down fighting: Saturday’s Class 6A first-round playoff game between Prairie Ridge and Crystal Lake South featured plenty of big plays and wow moments as the crosstown rivals combined for 17 total touchdowns.

The Wolves and Gators combined for nine touchdowns in the second quarter alone, with each team scoring with less than 45 seconds left.

South coach Rob Fontana knew his team would have to match the big-play ability of Vasey, who ran for 301 of his 334 yards in Week 8 in the second half. The Wolves won that game 48-41.

“I’d say we go-toe to-toe with giants,” Fontana said. “Prairie Ridge is going to score 40 every time, so typically your goal is to score 40 to have a chance. Today, they threw up 63. But our offense kept going after it.

“I think that’s the unique part of what we do. We’ve got a unique mix of special athletes. They just always believe. Believe that they can score, and believe that they can move the ball. They just ran out of time.”

Fontana will say goodbye to a dedicated senior class.

“Besides being really good at football, they’re all really good people and they’re really good leaders,” Fontana said, “Their leadership was second to none. Our seniors really took control of this team.”

Hello, again: Richmond-Burton and Chicago Urban Prep/Bronzeville have become well-acquainted over the past six years. When the top-seeded Rockets (10-0) host the No. 8 Lions (7-3) at 7 p.m. Friday in Class 4A, it will be their fifth meeting since 2017.

And it will be the Lions’ second trip to R-B’s new turf field this season. R-B defeated Bronzeville 49-0 in the season opener.

The two met in the first round of the 2017 Class 4A playoffs with R-B winning 21-6. In 2019, the Rockets again beat the Lions in the first round 56-6.

In the 2021 season opener, R-B beat Bronzeville 69-0.

R-B has won 42 of its last 43 games and has been to the Class 4A semifinals in three consecutive seasons.

Familiar foe: When No. 7 Rochelle (8-2) visits No. 15 Johnsburg (6-4) at 7 p.m. Friday, it will be two opponents who know each other well from the Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8 Blue Division.

Rochelle won the first matchup 60-34 in Week 3. The Hubs beat Dixon 42-36 in overtime in the first round; Johnsburg defeated Chicago Hyde Park 54-8.

“It’s good to know, because we know what they’re going to try and do, what they beat us when we last played them,” Skyhawks running back-defensive back Jake Metze said. “It’s good to know that we’re playing them again and what they’re going to try and do and we already know what they’re going to try and do: run the ball.”

Johnsburg feels good with an offense that is producing 37.5 points a game. The Skyhawks have to come up with something on defense to slow down the Hubs’ potent ground game.

“It’s going to help a lot,” Skyhawks quarterback A.J. Bravieri said. “Our offense had a pretty good game that game, so I feel confident rolling into Rochelle and I feel confident knowing what they’re doing and know how they work.”

• Alex Kanetcki and Michal Dwojak contributed to this report.