How Boylan, Hononegah and Belvidere North could make NIC-10 football playoff history
Three NIC-10 football teams will play Saturday. How rare is that? It is only the second time in 13 years that three NIC-10 teams have reached the second round of the IHSA state football playoffs, but it is the 12th time overall that at least three have won the opening weekend. The record is four, first set in 1985, when East and Hononegah finished in a three-way tie for third in the conference with Belvidere, only to see East go on to win a state title and Hononegah finish second in the state. Four teams also reached the second round in 1992.
Only once have three teams reached the third round: in 1994, when Belvidere won its second straight title, Boylan reached the semifinals and Hononegah the quarters. This year, all three second-round NIC-10 teams have a higher seed Saturday, giving the conference a legitimate chance at having three teams reach the third round of the playoffs for only the second time in conference history.
Let's take a look at those matchups.
More: How NIC-10's two best football teams opened with playoff routs
CLASS 7A
No. 15 Willowbrook Villa Park (8-2) at No. 2 Hononegah (10-0), 2 p.m. Saturday
Arthur Palicki threw or ran the ball on every play last week. The 6-3, 205-pound senior ran 23 times for 91 yards and threw for 350 yards and three TDs in a 21-13 win over Yorkville. All three TDs were long scores, a pair of 70-yard TD throws and a 27-yarder on fourth-and-goal as Villa Park overcame a couple of its 18 penalties. … KJ Rhodes had 11 catches for 206 yards and set the Villa Park season receiving record. … Yorkville had a chance to tie the game (with a 2-point conversion) with 2 minutes left but a receiver barely stepped out of bounds on the 46 on a would-be 77-yard TD pass. … Villa Park had reached the third round of the playoffs five years in a row before losing in the first round last year. … Hononegah has reached the third round only once since 1996. … Villa Park finished second in the West Suburban Gold conference. League champ Downers Grove South was 6-0 in the league and 0-4 against non-conference foes. The entire conference is 8-16 against outside competition, with 7 of those wins by Addison Trail (4-0) or Villa Park (3-1). … Hononegah’s Cole Warren (so far) has the best TD-to-interception ratio in NIC-10 history, with 25 TD passes vs. only two interceptions. … Hononegah’s Isaiah Houi leads the conference in both receiving yards (631) and TD catches (11).
More: Updated NIC-10 playoff stats and playoff schedule: Hono's Cole Warren closing in on record
CLASS 6A
No. 5 Wauconda (8-2) at No. 4 Belvidere North (8-2), 1 p.m. Saturday
Wauconda finished second in the Northern Lake Conference. Belvidere North lost in the first round by 1 and 3 points the last two years to another NLC team, Grayslake Central, which finished fourth and third in the conference those two years. … Wauconda won 21-20 last week over a Fox Lake Grant team that started 10 sophomores by stopping a 2-point conversion try with 10 seconds left. … Wauconda senior Connor Vanselow has 2,593 career rushing yards and 33 TDs and averages 8.1 yards per carry for his career. Junior QB Logan Olsen passed for 1,100 yards as a sophomore and is 51-for-98 for 775 yards this year. Both had better stats last year. … Wauconda averages 219 yards rushing and 84 passing. … Wauconda is 6-11 lifetime in the playoffs and had been 0-6 since 1992 before reaching the second round the last two years. They were a No. 1 and a 2 seed those last two years and then lost to 7 and 8 seeds in the second round who did not advance after beating Wauconda. … Belvidere North is ranked No. 9 by The Associated Press and Wauconda No. 10.
CLASS 4A
No. 7 Elmhurst IC (8-2) at No. 2 Boylan (9-1), 2 p.m. Saturday
Elmhurst IC is ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll and Boylan No. 3. No. 1 Rochester, the only undefeated team in 4A, is in the other bracket. … Elmhurst IC returned seven starters on offense and five on defense from last year’s undefeated Class 3A state champs. … While Elmhurst IC moved up a class this year because of the IHSA’s success formula, Boylan dropped down one class to 4A, the lowest level it has ever been in for the playoffs. … Elmhurst QB Dennis Mandala is a three-year starter with 6,535 career passing yards, 76 TDs and 17 interceptions, including 37 TD passes his junior year. … Joey Gliatta has 1,203 yards and 20 TDs rushing for Elmhurst, averaging 10.2 yards per carry,, and Aaron Harvey has 795 yards and 10 TDs with an 8.4 average. … Elmhurst has a spread offense, starting four wide receivers, led by KJ Parker, who had 1,082 yards and 17 TDs as a junior and 637 yards so far this season. … Boylan’s Connor Dennis is third all-time in NIC-10 passing yards (4,588) and second with 52 passing TDs. … Boylan’s Rasheed Johnson, bothered by a bad back, has only 377 combined yards rushing and receiving this year, but caught four passes for 154 yards in a three-point loss to Hononegah and ran for a team-high 73 yards on only nine carries in a one-point, overtime win over Belvidere North. His status for Saturday is unknown.
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Boylan, Hononegah and Belvidere North could tie NIC-10 record Saturday
