Annawan, Wethersfield have been a good match
It’s certainly been a match of two strong football programs when Annawan joined forces with neighbor Kewanee Wethersfield a year ago.
They are back in the playoffs for the second straight year, traveling to Amboy Saturday.
Wethersfield won the 1A state title in 2001 under former coach Tom Buck. The Flying Geese also reached the state quarterfinals in 1992 and 2002, compiling an overall 18-14 record in 16 playoff appearances
Annawan had a rich playoff history of its own. The Braves made 17 playoff appearances, with an overall 16-17 record, including semifinal appearances in 1A in ’86 and ’90 and quarterfinals in ’91 and ’93, all under Jim Frankenreider, and again in ’03 under Wayne Brau.
• M n Ms: Mendota will do battle with Morris for the first time in decades, meeting in the second round of the 4A playoffs. They played for years in the old Illinois Valley Conference.
Mendota is 8-2, finishing as NCIC Lincoln runner-up behind IVC. Morris (6-4) went 5-1 in its first year in the NCIC Reagan, losing only to league champ Sterling.
Morris has a rich tradition as any public school in the state, winning two state titles with three seconds under former coach Dan Darlington and taking a first (’05) and a second (’07) under current coach George Dergo for a total of seven title game appearances.
Mendota has now made 13 playoffs appearances (10-13 record), but has only made it past the second round once when it reached the 3A semis in 1987.
Morris and the rest of the Reagan division will leave the NCIC behind next year for the new Northern Illinois Big 12.
• NCIC playoff outlook: The NCIC put six teams into the playoffs with two on the Lincoln side (IVC and Mendota) and four from the Reagan (Sterling, Morris, Geneseo and L-P). The Reagan likely would have had a fifth had Ottawa not had to forfeit its final four games due to its teachers’ strike.
With a first-round loss to Kankakee Bishop McNamara, Lincoln champ Chillicothe IVC had its second playoffs appearance in four years after posting 9-0 season records. The Grey Ghosts have just a 1-5 record in the playoffs, all since 2005.
Geneseo can try to get some revenge for its NCIC counterpart when it travels to Bishop Mac Saturday.
Like Morris, Geneseo is well known around IHSA circles, winning four state titles and taking four seconds from 1976-93. The Maple Leafs are back in 4A for the second straight year after playing in the 5A ranks from 2001-07.
The Maple Leafs’ first three state titles came in 3A in the old six-class system.
The Bishop Mac program is no slouch to state trophies under longtime coach Rich Zinanni, taking four firsts and three seconds, but none since 1998. Geneseo knocked out the Irish in last year’s second round 16-14.
• Getting defensive for Stevens: Sterling will travel to Washington to face the Panthers, who have some hardware in their trophy case — second in ‘84, first in ‘85. Todd Stevens, a member of Princeton’s 1989 state runners-up, is the Panthers’ defensive coordinator, directing a defense that has allowed a scant 57 points this season (5.7 ppg).
The Panthers are 10-0, champions in the Mid-Illini with a 28-7 win over Pat Ryan’s Metamora Redbirds.
• Ryan’s hope: Former Princeton coach Joe Ryan and his Sycamore Spartans will host No. 16 West Chicago Wheaton Academy (6-4) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The ninth seeded Spartans whipped Western Sun rival Maple Park Kaneland 40-13 Saturday.
Sycamore finished fourth in the Western Sun behind Geneva, Glenbard South and Kaneland.
