Polo looking for second straight state title

Two years ago, the current Polo juniors and seniors watched as the 2019 Marcos rolled to the Illinois 8-Man Football Association state championship in their first season in the new league.

From the final horn of that state championship game, all they wanted to do was match that feat.

They get the chance tonight, as the Marcos play for their second straight 8-man state title at April Zorn Memorial Stadium on the campus of Monmouth College. Polo (12-0) will take on former NUIC foe Orangeville (11-1) at 7 p.m.

“The seniors now were sophomores when that happened, so we got to stand on the sideline and watch. So we have the experience to know what it’s like being in that game and what’s on the line,” Kahlil Sankey said. “We all wanted to be out there really bad, so being able to do it this year, it’s what we’ve wanted and what we’ve been shooting for the last two years.”

Last year, COVID wiped out what would’ve been the third annual 8-man state title game, meaning the Marcos were still the reigning state champs as the fall season started. They took over the No. 1 spot in I8FA midway through the season and haven’t looked back, winning their 10 contested games by an average of 52.8-16.6.

But it’s been even better since a two-week break where consecutive opponents were forced to forfeit due to COVID issues. Polo has outscored its opponents 396-116 in the last seven games, and 52 of those points allowed came in the quarterfinal win over Milford-Cissna Park.

Coach Ted Alston credits the players for their single-minded determination week in and week out.

“Their focus has been there all year. We were a little worried when we had those two games canceled. We really worked hard to maintain that focus and try to do a lot self-improvement from what we had seen the first three games, and they responded to it well,” Alston said. “… When we came back, we saw that improvement, and we saw that keep getting better and better. And they have been a really focused team this year, so it’s kind of been nice. We haven’t really had to work too hard on keeping them focused.”

That hasn’t changed this week, even when the Marcos are so close to achieving their ultimate goal.

“We just have to pretty much do the same thing this week,” Daniel Engel said, “just a lot of focus on prep and doing our jobs.”

“From the start until now, it’s been the same idea,” Wyatt Queckboerner added. “It’s Polo Marco football. We’re just trying to keep going until we get it done.”

Polo boasts a pair of 1,300-yard rushers in sophomore Brock Soltow (141 carries, 1,388 yards, 23 TDs) and junior Avery Grenoble (180-1,358, 23 TDs). Senior quarterback Tyler Merdian has been adept with both his feet (42-250, 5 TDs) and with his arm (34-for-57 passing, 729 yards, 11 TDs, 2 INTs). Sankey (12 catches, 254 yards, 5 TDs), Grenoble (10-246, 3 TDs) and Soltow (9-172, 2 TDs) are the main pass-catchers.

Polo put up 491 rushing yards in a 50-14 semifinal win over West Central last Saturday, utilizing big plays to build an insurmountable lead before a 12-minute, 40-second scoring drive in the second half squashed any comeback hopes for the Heat. The Marcos had touchdown runs of 24, 57, 47, 46, 62 and 52 yards in the first half, then capped the quarter-long drive with a 38-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-15.

“Defensively we have to stop inside run,” Orangeville coach Bill Meier said. “They do run it very well, and all of their offense is based off of the inside run.”

The Broncos boast a strong ground game as well. Junior Gunar Lobdell has 2,264 yards and 41 touchdowns on 221 rushes, including 224 yards and three TDs last week in a 34-12 semifinal win against Amboy-LaMoille. Blake Folgate (34-380, 3 TDs), and Joey Thomm (29-184, 4 TDs) also get carries out of the backfield, and quarterback Carson Rote has 396 yards and six touchdowns on 75 rushes, and 824 yards and 12 TDs on 33-for-51 passing, with only one interception. Brayden Cahoon has 37 rushes for 358 yards and four TDs, and also has 13 catches for 399 yards and four more scores. Nate Anderson (10 catches, 264 yards, 5 TDs) and Lobdell (5 catches, 116 yards, 3 TDs) are the other top targets.

“The key to our success moving the ball is offensive line play,” Meier said. “We don’t have any giants, but we have good-sized kids who can move well.”

A goal-line stand following a turnover early in the second half gave Orangeville the momentum in the semifinal, as it turned the Clippers away from the 1-yard line to preserve a 13-12 lead, then marched 99 yards for a score as it pulled away in the second half.

“Orangeville’s really good. They’re really good up front, they’ve got great running backs, they’re just a very quality team,” Alston said. “They had that one hiccup [a 56-26 loss in Week 6] against Milledgeville, who played really well and presented some problems for them.

“But Orangeville’s a lot like us. They want to do almost the exact same thing we want to do, so it’ll be interesting to see how this works out.”

Meier also likes how focused his Broncos have been all season, and hasn’t seen anything different in preparation for the biggest game in program history since a Class 1A state championship in 1989.

“My guys know this is a big game, but we are treating it like any other week,” he said. “Since Week 4, every week has been a big game, so I think we will be ready.”

Alston knows his Marcos will have their hands full, because that’s how it’s usually been between these two programs. The fact that they didn’t meet up during the regular season adds a little more to it, as well.

“We’re just happy to be here, we’re happy to play whoever. It is kind of cool playing someone you haven’t played, though,” Alston said. “It’s also kind of cool to see two NUIC teams. We’ve had a long tradition playing against each other. Their AD up there now, Toby Golembiewski, and I used to coach against each other years ago, and had some pretty good battles, so it’s kind of fun. I’m proud of the conference in that respect.”

The next battle will have more on the line than any of the others, and it should be a doozy between two evenly matched teams that are hungry to take home the championship trophy.

Whichever team can calm down and settle in quicker and just play the way it has all season to get to this point will have the advantage.

“It’s exciting, of course, but we can’t overhype it or stress ourselves out about it,” Blake Diehl said. “We’re just going to treat it like any other game, just going to have to do what we always do and play Polo football: play smart and play hard and don’t stop until the game is over.”