May 11, 2025
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Dixon ready to hit the road, visit stately Gately Stadium for first-round playoff game

By Ty Reynolds - Shaw Local News Network correspondent

Dixon's Rylan Ramsdell tries to break a tackle on a kickoff return during a Week 8 game against Byron at A.C. Bowers Field. The Dukes will travel to Chicago to take on Phillips in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs on Saturday afternoon at Gately Stadium. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com)

A home game in the first round of the football playoffs is always the goal. But if you have to go on the road, there are few places better to play than Gately Stadium.

The stadium on the south side of Chicago has been home to many historic games over the years, and the Dixon Dukes will face the Phillips Wildcats there in a Class 4A first-round playoff game at 4 p.m. Saturday.

“We’re all pumped to go play there, we’re all pumped to go play in a turf field and just absolutely light it up,” Dixon senior Mitchell White said.

“It’s just a neat atmosphere,” Dixon coach Jared Shaner added. “It’s a stadium that holds 8,000 people – obviously there won’t be anywhere near that there Saturday – and it’s going to be a fun experience for our kids. I think in some respects it’s better than heading down the road to see somebody that you’ve played five times in the last four years.”

Waiting for the Dukes will be another solid Phillips squad. Winners of the Chicago Public League’s only state titles – the Wildcats won it all in 4A in 2015 and 5A in 2017 after petitioning the IHSA to move up a class – this year’s Phillips team is also a formidable opponent.

The Wildcats (7-2) went a perfect 5-0 in the Chicago Public League’s Illini Land of Lincoln Conference, and after allowing 75 points the first two weeks of the season in losses to Batavia and Chicago Mt. Carmel, they have outscored their opponents 238-54 during their current seven-game winning streak.

Phillips finished 5-0 at home this season, and comes in off a pair of lopsided wins the last two weeks of the regular season – 40-0 over Lincoln Park and 50-6 over Payton.

“They’re big and strong and fast at just about every position, and they play fast on both sides of the ball,” Shaner said. “You can tell they’re well-coached. It’s a team that, maybe not these guys necessarily, played in a couple of state championship games recently. They’ve played some national games the last couple of years. So we’ve got our work cut out for us. We’ve got to go and be ready from the kickoff on Saturday.”

Joe Winslow, the offensive coordinator for the state title teams, took over this season after Troy McAllister left for Orland Park Sandburg after 11 years at Phillips; Winslow was the OC for 10 years.

Dixon (6-3) defeated Rock Falls 46-13 in Week 9 to snap a two-game losing streak against the top two teams in the Big Northern. The Dukes’ 340 points scored were the second-most points in the BNC this season behind champion Byron (417), and 106 of the 159 points they allowed this fall came in their three losses.

The speedy, shifty Zavion Johnson (51 rushes, 617 yards, 6 TDs) and hard-nosed Rylan Ramsdell (81 rushes, 572 yards, 6 TDs) provide a potent 1-2 punch from the Dukes’ backfield. Senior Jacob Gaither has fully recovered from a broken and dislocated finger suffered right before the start of the season and taken over the reins at quarterback, and has 225 yards rushing, 297 yards passing, and seven total touchdowns in two starts.

Sophomore Tyler Shaner (494 yards rushing, 5 TDs; 906 yards passing, 16 TDs, 3 INTs) will also take some snaps, and seniors Mason Randick (37 catches, 483 yards, 10 TDs) and Jacob Gusse (25 catches, 338 yards, 7 TDs) and junior Jath St. Pier (16 catches, 269 yards, 2 TDs) have been the top targets in the passing game.

“We just have to do the same things the coaches have been teaching us the entire season. We have to go 1-0 this week, and we have to play better and harder and faster than the people across from us,” White said. “We know Phillips is a good program, but we’re just focusing on the things that they do, and the things that we have to do ourselves. We’re ready for a hard week of practice, and we’re focused on what we have to do each day to get ready for Saturday.”

Despite the tough opponent and long road trip, those are “problems” the Dukes are happy to have, because it means they’re playing in Week 10.

“We started talking about it this weekend at practice, just what a great opportunity we have,” Shaner said. “There are 240-some teams in the state that wish they were playing right now and they’re not, so we’re excited to be able to play.”