MSL Football Playoffs: First-Round MSL Postseason Tidbits
Prospect Completes MSL Regular-Season/Playoff Sweep; Northern Lake County Conference Teams Have Big Coaching Ties to League
Some Mid-Suburban League-related notes from the first round of the 2024 state playoffs:
We Meet Again
Prospect’s 56-14 Class 7A first-round win over Hersey on Friday night was the 34th time two Mid-Suburban League schools have met in the state football playoffs. It was also the 26th time it was a rematch of a regular-season game.
MSL East champion Prospect won the regular-season meeting 30-27 and became the 17th team to pull off the two-game regular-season/playoff sweep. The first of nine split decisions came in the first all-MSL meeting in 1977 when Elk Grove avenged a regular-season loss by beating Barrington 16-13 in a 5A opener.
Eight of the all-MSL playoff games came after the two teams did not meet in the regular season.
Next up for the Knights is a trip to Normal for a second-round game at 7 p.m. next Friday. Their only other playoff trip to the Bloomington-Normal area was a memorable 41-35 triple-overtime, first-round loss to top-seeded Bloomington in 2000 that was the impetus for the Knights’ run of three state titles in five years.
Put Them (Points) On the Board
Barrington’s 66-13 8A first-round win over South Elgin was just 3 points short of equaling the record for points by an MSL team in the playoffs. Palatine beat Niles West 69-42 in the first round in 2012.
The Broncos’ previous playoff high for points came in a 59-56 loss to Marist in the 2015 second round. Their previous best for points in a playoff victory was a 48-3 decision over Glenbrook South in their 2017 opener.
Prospect came close to matching its school record for points in a playoff game when it beat Reavis 62-13 in a 7A opener in 2022. The 62 points is now third-most by an MSL team in the playoffs.
Fremd’s 42-20 win over Andrew matched its second-highest playoff point total and was just shy of its 45-42 win over Brother Rice in the 2016 8A first round. The Vikings lost 46-42 to Lake Park in the 8A first round in 2003.
MSL’s Northern Lake County Connections
Northern Lake County Conference playoff qualifiers Antioch, Grant and Wauconda all have ties to the MSL on their coaching staffs.
Antioch is making its 13th playoff appearance since Conant grad Brian Glashagel took over in 2007 and won its 6A opener 43-27 over Grayslake North on Friday night. Glashagel was an all-MSL safety for Dave Pendergast in 1989 when the Cougars reached the 6A semfiinals and lost 36-22 at eventual champion East St. Louis Sr. with future Illinois star and Bears linebacker Dana Howard and future seven-year Major League baseball player Homer Bush.
Antioch is 129-51 under Glashagel and has a tough test next week at undefeated and defending 6A champion Cary-Grove.
Scott Blecha, another Conant grad, is in his second year as an assistant coach at Wauconda. Blecha was Pendergast’s starting quarterback for a 2002 team that lost 9-7 to Stevenson on a late field goal in the 8A quarterfinals.
Blecha was at Round Lake as an assistant and head coach for four years at Round Lake before coming to Wauconda. The Bulldogs rolled past Fenton 58-7 in their 6A opener and next weekend get a chance to avenge last year’s 28-21 second-round loss to Belvidere North. They are trying to break through to the quarterfinals for the first time.
Grant had its 6A opener under third-year coach Tim Norwood on Saturday at Burlington Central. Norwood was an assistant in the Barrington program for Joe Sanchez and Al Kamradt for 22 years.
This is the second consecutive year Grant has won at least 6 games and made the playoffs. The only other time in school history the program finished above .500 with playoff trips in consecutive years was 2011-12.
Farrell Gets Fenton Back on Track
Fremd grad Mark Farrell returned to Fenton as a head coach this season and the program got back to the playoffs with a winning season for the first time since 2013. The Bison finished 6-4 after their 58-7 6A opening loss at Wauconda.
Farrell was a Daily Herald All-Area special mention tight end in 1988 and was 21-17 with two playoff trips as Fenton’s head coach from 2006-09. Farrell’s younger brother Jim was a head coach at Buffalo Grove and is currently an a assistant at Hersey.
Warren Familiar with MSL Postseason Foes
Warren showed why it was one of the most dangerous 5-4 teams in the state with workhorse running back Aaron Stewart in its 31-24 win at Palatine on Friday. It was also a happy homecoming for longtime Warren assistant Jim Voutiritsas, who was an all-MSL linebacker for Palatine and Joe Petricca in 1987 and an assistant at his alma mater.
Warren is now 4-4 in playoff games against MSL teams and gets another shot at the league when it hosts Barrington next weekend. The two schools have split four playoff meetings with Barrington winning in 2002 and 2012 and Warren winning in 2004 and 2021.
St. Charles North’s Pomazak Breaks Tie with Alma Mater
St. Charles North head coach Rob Pomazak faced his old school for the third time with its 49-14 7A opening win over Rolling Meadows on Friday. Pomazak was a football and baseball standout at Meadows and starter on the school’s 1996 Elite Eight baseball team.
Meadows won the previous meeting in 2018 and the North Stars won the first meeting with Pomazak as head coach in 2014. The two schools also met in 2004, before Pomazak was coaching at North, and Meadows won 34-30 to start a run to the 7A semifinals.
Hoffman Knows the Way to Lincoln-Way
The extension of I-355 all the way to I-80 made it a lot easier to get to New Lenox from the northwest suburbs than it was in the 1990s when Barrington, Conant and Palatine had to travel there for playoff games against Lincoln-Way. The population boom there ultimately led to four Lincoln-Way high schools and now its current three (Central, East and West).
Now Hoffman Estates, coach Tim Heyse and standout quarterback Nate Cleveland follow their trip to Chicago’s North Side to beat Lincoln Park with a second-round trip to Lincoln-Way Central next weekend. Last year the Hawks lost 40-14 in a 7A opener at Lincoln-Way West.
MSL Football Playoff Page Updated
The Mid-Suburban League Playoff Football history/numbers page is updated after Friday night’s first-round games.
Great tidbits!