2022 IHSA playoffs: Steve Soucie’s Class 4A first-round analysis

Johnsburg's Nicholas LoPresti tackles Richmond-Burton's Nick Falasca during a Kishwaukee River Conference football game Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, between Richmond-Burton and Johnsburg at Richmond-Burton Community High School in Richmond.

A lot of the discussion around the Class 4A bracket surrounds a limited number of teams in the draw.

First and foremost, regardless of the end outcome this will be the last postseason run for Sacred Heart Griffin’s Ken Leonard, the winningest head coach in Illinois history, as he is set to retire at the conclusion of the year.

Others plan to make his final title chase as difficult as possible. Defending champion Joliet Catholic has its eyes on another title while teams like Richmond-Burton, Wheaton St. Francis and Rochester, coached by Ken’s son, Derek will all plot their course with eyes on some hardware.

First-round matchups

Richmond-Burton vs. Ridgewood: Richmond-Burton had a whopping seven playoff bound opponents on its schedule and weren’t really pushed that hard by any of them excluding a seven-point win over Normal West in Week 4. Ridgewood doesn’t have much in regards to a signature win having only beat one playoff bound team (Chicago Schurz) on its way back to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Pick: Richmond-Burton

Urban Prep-Bronzeville vs. Chicago Sullivan: Urban Prep-Bronzeville is one of the rare Chicago Public League schools that actually owns a playoff victory over a non CPL school in a previous postseason but gets a draw here that might allow them to pick up another postseason win. Sullivan is 0-15 in previous attempts to experience a win in the playoffs.

Pick: Urban Prep-Bronzeville

Wheaton Academy vs. Providence: These two teams are polar opposites in terms of schedule strength. Wheaton Academy only played one strong opponent on the season in IC Catholic while Providence’s slate was littered with high quality foes. In Wheaton’s defense, it put the hammer down on the lesser foes on its schedule but it simply hasn’t had the prep that Providence has for the postseason.

Pick: Providence

Joliet Catholic vs. Phillips: Joliet Catholic begins its title defense against a program that has some postseason pedigree of its own. The Hilltoppers probably do have a little too much here for Phillips to deal with as the Wildcats aren’t exactly at the level they’ve been in the past. They did however regroup nicely from an 0-3 start against elite competition.

Pick: Joliet Catholic

Hyde Park vs. Johnsburg: Hyde Park ran the table in the Red South Central, but despite only allowing 54 points all season long the Thunderbirds had five different league games decided by eight points or less. Johnsburg locked horns with a much higher level of competition, but owns just one win over a team with a winning record (Kingdom Prep Lutheran, Wisconsin).

Pick: Johnsburg

Rochelle vs. Dixon: Rochelle steamrolled its way to its seven victories this season, but in its two losses both to teams that ended up undefeated the Hubs struggled to keep pace. Dixon found itself in a number of close games this season with those ending on both sides of the ledger. The Dukes won’t be in unfamiliar territory if this game comes down to the wire, which it might.

Pick: Rochelle

St. Francis vs. Marengo: St. Francis had punished the majority of its opponents through the first eight weeks of play this season but met its match with IC Catholic in Week 9. St. Francis is battling some injuries but still looks like a difficult team to knock out. Marengo will counter with a passing attack keyed by prolific QB Josh Holst.

Pick: St. Francis

Evergreen Park vs. Noble/Comer: Evergreen Park has some inconsistencies on its resume this year and hasn’t played a single team that recorded more than six wins this year. It also includes a loss to a three-win team. Even so the Mustangs did play primarily 5A/6A level competition during the year which should be helpful. Noble/Comer played a number of close games this season but hasn’t exactly been explosive on offense as it averages the fewest number of points in the class of qualifiers.

Pick: Evergreen Park

Carterville vs. Geneseo: Carterville has handled every obstacle in its way, scoring 40-plus points in two thirds of its contests on the season. But while the Lions are undefeated there’s concern about whether or not they are truly prepared for the rigors of the 4A bracket. Geneseo, albeit a No. 16 seed, doesn’t have such concerns playing larger schools for the entirety of its campaign.

Pick: Carterville

Coal City vs. Wood River/East Alton: One of the longer road trips of the first round, playoff regular Coal City hopes to make a bit of a postseason run. They’ve drawn a program that hasn’t made a dent in the postseason, dropping its opening round qualifier in all nine previous playoff appearances. This also might be one of the opening round’s quicker games as both teams would prefer to utilize a power running game.

Pick: Coal City

Rochester vs. Effingham: Skeptics thought this might be a down year for the Rochester program, but most programs would be more than thrilled with an 8-1 regular season where they scored 407 points. Don’t bury the Rockets just yet. Effingham had a relatively rare miss of a playoff berth last season after falling one step short of the state finals in a deep 2019 playoff run.

Pick: Rochester

Breese Central vs. Mount Zion: Breese Central did manage to stack seven wins but nearly all of them were an adventure as there were close games galore on the Cougars ledger. Mount Zion also has its fair share of hiccups including a Week 8 loss to Charleston, a non-playoff qualifier.

Pick: Mount Zion

Sacred Heart Griffin vs. Spring Valley Hall: Sacred Heart Griffin returns a ton of high caliber players from last year’s Class 4A runner-up and is determined to send out veteran coach Ken Leonard with the biggest hardware as he is retiring at the conclusion of the season. This is a daunting draw for Hall, whose cooperative agreement with Putnam County pushes its enrollment number into the 4A range. All 62 of Hall’s previous playoff games have been played in Class 3A or lower.

Pick: Sacred Heart Griffin

Olney Richland County vs. Waterloo: Olney East Richland has barely outscored its opponents this season, leaning on two comfortable wins to keep them on the positive side of the ledger. An inability to keep high-flying Highland in check muddies Waterloo’s defensive numbers a bit, the Bulldogs have been very, very strong defensively this year.

Pick: Waterloo

Macomb vs. Quincy Notre Dame: These two teams used to lock horns on a regular basis as both were saddled with independent status and were two of the few teams in Western Illinois that had that happen. Macomb has found a conference home, but they are by far a big fish in a smaller pond in the Prairieland Conference and might not be fully ready for what the 4A playoffs bring to the table.

Pick: Macomb

Murphysboro vs. Columbia: Murphysboro has only defeated one playoff bound team this season, but hasn’t had many scuffles on the offensive side of the ball even in its two losses. Looking at Columbia’s season ledger it is easy to imagine a scenario where the Eagles could have won more, lost more and possibly not made the playoffs at all considering a pair of one-point victories could have gone either way.

Pick: Murphysboro