Resiliency is the name of the game in athletics. Adversity, too, as there is no resiliency without adversity to overcome.

But man, oh man, has Lincoln-Way East been hit hard with adversity the past few weeks.

QB Jonas Williams, one of the top prep quarterbacks in the country, has been sidelined the past two games. He was spotted in a walking boot Thursday against Sandburg with what head coach Rob Zvonar called an ankle injury that is “day-to-day.”

If it were just Williams, that would be tough enough. But it expands beyond him. Multiple offensive linemen were out for the Sandburg game, while defensive end Jacob Alexander – an Illinois commit – was dressed, but did not play for the second consecutive week.

It only got worse for the Griffins during the game, a 21-13 win for Sandburg. Receiver Blaise LaVista exited in the first half after hauling in a touchdown catch and was limping noticeably. The Washington commit was on crutches in the second half.

“Our margin of error now is a lot (smaller) with some key players out,” Zvonar said. “We’re blessed to have a second season and opportunity, and I believe in these kids. We’re not going to wilt when we have a little hurricane or tsunami or whatever came through the last couple of weeks.”

The loss to Sandburg was the second in a row for Lincoln-Way East after losing to Naperville North the week before. It’s the first time the Griffins have lost multiple games in a season since 2021, and the first time they lost back-to-back games since 2004.

Zvonar did say that “reinforcements are coming,” but whether that refers to Williams, who is heading to USC in January, remains to be seen. If the Griffins can get even relatively healthy by Friday’s game against Stevenson, they’re as good a bet to go all the way as anyone.

If not, they’ll need all the resiliency they can get.

Learning opportunity

It wasn’t one of Morris’ best performances Friday night in a 38-26 loss to Byron Center, Michigan. Morris was guilty of eight turnovers, seven in the first half. Only a stiff defense kept the score from being worse than it was. Despite the turnovers, Morris actually outgained Byron Center, 396-312.

“I would imagine that most teams, if they have eight turnovers, would have a running clock against them,” Morris coach Alan Thorson said. “I thought our defense did a great job considering they weren’t put in very good positions all night with the turnovers we had.

“This is a game that we have to forget about, move on and get ready for the playoffs. I would much rather have a game like this tonight rather than next week. We will learn from this and take those lessons into next week.”

We made it!

More years than not, the magic number for wins to make the playoffs has been five. In recent years, there’ve been a few teams that managed to sneak in with at-large bids at four wins. It doesn’t happen every year, but this year a few teams did it.

Including a perennial powerhouse.

Joliet Catholic, thanks in large part to a win over Providence on Friday, has snuck into the 6A playoff bracket at 4-5. The Hilltoppers will be the 16th seed on their side of the bracket.

Of course, with the reward of the playoffs comes the unenviable task of playing Chatham Glenwood in the first round, the top seed.

However, what’s happened to Lincoln-Way East the past few weeks was what Joliet Catholic was dealing with in the beginning of the year. The Hilltoppers lost three defensive starters to injury before the first half of the first game of the season was even over. The injury bug hit them hard early, but they’re relatively healthy now.

Plus, this is Joliet Catholic. Aside from Mt. Carmel, no team knows state championship success more than the Hilltoppers in the state. So while it’s no easy task, don’t be shocked if the 4-5 Hilltoppers “shock” the state.

First-round playoff schedule

Friday

8A: Minooka at Glenbrook South, 7 p.m.

8A: Stevenson at Lincoln-Way East, 7 p.m.

8A: Oswego East at Bolingbrook, 7 p.m.

7A: Reavis at Lincoln-Way Central, 7 p.m.

7A: Lincoln Park at Lincoln-Way West, 7 p.m.

6A: Plainfield East at East St. Louis, 7 p.m.

4A: Woodstock at Morris, 7 p.m.

Saturday

8A: Lockport at Sandburg, 6 p.m.

6A: Joliet Catholic at Glenwood, 2 p.m.

5A: Lemont at Kankakee, 3 p.m.

5A: Springfield High at Providence, 1 p.m.

4A: Sterling at Coal City, 4 p.m.

2A: West Hancock at Wilmington, 3 p.m.

2A: Port Byron Riverdale at Seneca, 1 p.m.

1A: Dwight at Rushville-Industry, 2 p.m.