Class 5A football: Morris to host top-seeded Mahomet-Seymour in quarterfinals Saturday

MORRIS — Undefeated and top-seeded in the southern bracket in the Class 5A playoffs, Mahomet-Seymour will make the trip north on Route 47 to take on Morris in the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.

The Bulldogs have fashioned an 11-0 record, outscoring opponents 524-162. They beat Ottawa 40-14 at home in the first round of the playoffs and Metamora 44-28 at home in the second round.

Morris, meanwhile, enters the game with a 9-2 record, the only two losses to unbeaten Richmond-Burton and Sycamore. Morris owns a 427-138 scoring edge over its opponents. Morris claimed a 42-14 win over LaSalle-Peru in the first round at home, then went on the road and smacked Centralia 56-0 in the second round.

Mahomet-Seymour features a high-scoring offense, led by quarterback Wyatt Bohm, who has thrown for 2,322 yards and 33 touchdowns against six interceptions. He has completed 149 of 224 passes. The main threat for Bohm is receiver Quenton Rogers, who has 58 receptions for 1,124 yards and 18 touchdowns. Rogers has also run the ball 15 times for 238 yards and seven TDs. Another top receiver is Valiant Walsh, who has 474 yards and nine touchdowns on 41 catches.

The Bulldogs are not strictly a passing team, as running back Luke Johnson has run for 976 yards and 10 touchdowns on 129 carries despite not playing in two games.

“Their quarterback has a very strong arm,” Morris coach Alan Thorson said. “He can really throw the ball. The main threat is No. 5 [Rogers]. He’s a receiver, but they will also run some wildcat with him and put him in the backfield as a running back. They do a lot of different things to get the ball in his hands. No. 17 [Walsh] is also a good receiver and No. 25 [Johnson] is a good running back for them.

“From what we’ve seen, their offense doesn’t have very many drives that don’t end in touchdowns, so it’s going to be a challenge for our defense.”

Last week, the Morris defense limited Centralia to just 77 total yards.

Morris counters with an offense that has been balanced for most of the season, but threw just one pass in the win over Centralia. That pass went for a 27-yard touchdown from Carter Button to Sam Reddinger. For the year, Button has completed 76 of 113 passes for 987 yards and 14 touchdowns against just two interceptions. The running game has been spread out, with Ashton Yard leading the way with 777 yards and 13 TDs on 105 carries. Jacob Swartz has 562 yards and nine touchdowns on 68 carries. Button’s favorite targets through the air are A.J. Zweeres (36 catches, 515 yards, 9 TDs) and Will Knapp (18 catches, 260 yards, 4 TDs).

“Mahomet’s defense is very aggressive,” Thorson said. “They run a 3-3 and they have some good linebackers.”

Brennan Houser leads the Bulldogs with 71 tackles, incuding five for loss. Next is Nick Golden with 48 tackles, including 11 for loss and Benjamin Wagner with 45 tackles, incuding 14 for loss.

This is Morris’ first appearance in the quarterfinals since 2017, when they finished second in Class 4A to Rochester, while Mahomet-Seymour reached the quarterfinals last season before falling to Morton, 40-28 after Morton beat Morris 28-24 in the second round.

“There are no bad teams in the quarterfinals,” Thorson said. “We know we are going to have to come out and be physical, execute and limit our mistakes. We’re healthy and have played extremely well the last couple weeks. You don’t every think that a loss is good, but maybe that Week 9 loss to Sycamore was the wake-up call that we needed. We are a changed team since then.

“We have had two good playoff games, in all three phases. Our offense has been good, our defense has been good and our special teams have played well. We just need to out there Saturday and continue to do what we’ve been doing.”