Suburban Life football notes: Five years after controversial semifinal finish, Kaden Cobb and Fenwick look to take final step

Fenwick quarterback Kaden Cobb is among a group of seniors with some unfinished business left to complete for the program.

Before heading off to take snaps at Ball State next fall, Cobb and the rest of the Friars are aiming to erase a black mark in the program’s history.

Five years ago, the Friars suffered a controversial 18-17 overtime defeat to Plainfield North in a Class 7A semifinal. The Friars had all but wrapped up a victory, but were flagged for intentional grounding when quarterback Jacob Keller dropped back and threw the ball deep to kill the final four seconds off the clock. The officials awarded an untimed down, which allowed Plainfield North to kick a tying field goal before winning the game in overtime. A few days later, the IHSA admitted the referees made the wrong call on the fourth-down play.

Now, after registering a 28-17 win over Nazareth last weekend, the Friars (10-2) are one game away from the Class 5A state championship game when they host Sycamore (9-3) at 1 p.m. at Triton College.

It would be Fenwick’s first state finals appearance. Fenwick’s 1995 and 2016 semifinalists were the program’s furthest advancement until this season.

Cobb said the Friars are hungry to right a wrong. In the loss to Plainfield North, the Fenwick fans rushed the field after Keller’s incomplete pass and the clock running out in regulation.

“Sycamore is definitely going to be a challenge,” Cobb said. “They’re fast and physical but nothing that we haven’t faced. We have to be a four-quarter team and make sure we make plays when we need to and rely on each other at all times.”

The Friars’ offense faces one of their toughest challenges against Sycamore’s defense. The Spartans recorded shutouts over high-scoring Glenbard South and St. Patrick in their last two playoff games. The Friars have scored 102 points in their three playoff wins, including scoring 50 against Kaneland in their first-round game.

“The offense is at an all-time high right now,” Cobb said. “We’ve been working hard since the summer trying to get our timing down, and now it’s paying off.”

IC Catholic Prep back in familiar spot

IC Catholic Prep is back in familiar territory for its program. The Knights (11-1) host top-seeded Byron (12-0) on Saturday in the Class 3A semifinals at 4 p.m. IC Catholic coach Bill Krafft noted that this year’s team is vastly different than the three teams that won state titles from 2016-18.

“Our program right now has good momentum,” he said. “The staff has really come together from the coordinators to the people under them have really meshed well. Slowly throughout the summer, we started realizing we had great seniors who took over the culture of our program. You can tell when you have strong leadership, but you’re not sure what you have as a team until they’ve been tested. You can feel the leadership everywhere. As a staff, we knew it right away.

“But this team is so different. We’ve grown every day. It’s been a grind, day-to-day. We don’t accept losing, but we’ve learned from our mistakes and grown from it. We haven’t had a situation where we’ve been knocked off our stride. Throughout the season, we’ve been getting stronger and stronger.”

Krefft credited the secondary, coached by former NFL player Matt Bowen, for helping lift the performance of the defense. But Krefft understands the main battle for a victory will start in the trenches against Byron.

In 2017, the Knights recorded a 7-0 win over Byron in a 2017 Class 3A semifinal. This year the Tigers advanced to the semifinals with a 10-play, 61-yard touchdown drive in the final seconds to knock off Reed-Custer last weekend. Before the Reed-Custer game, the Tigers were averaging 328.3 rushing yards per game, with 56 of the team’s 70 touchdowns coming on the ground.

“Byron’s explosive and a downhill running team,” Krefft said. “They will grind you to the ground. They’re mentally disciplined and get off the football strong. They’re deeper than most 3A programs. We have 330 kids in our school. On our sidelines, we usually have 65 kids but that’s our whole program. As a varsity team, we have 25 kids, so Byron is deeper than us in terms of the varsity program.

“They get off the football better than anyone we’ve seen. They’re a high-level opponent and execute the details of the game really well, just a solid football team like the team we ran into four years ago. They’re very physical.”

Wheaton North update

Wheaton North is looking to a return to its heyday in Saturday’s Class 7A semifinal playoff game against Brother Rice. The Falcons won state titles in 1979, 1981 and 1986 under Jim Rexillius but have not reached the final weekend in 35 years. The Falcons knocked off Willowbrook 10-3 in the quarterfinals to set up Saturday’s 4 p.m. home game.

The Falcons, led by DuKane Conference Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Mark Forcucci, must contend with a highly motivated Brother Rice team that barely nudged out Wheaton Warrenville South 27-26 in the first round. The Crusaders cruised to wins over Yorkville and Mt. Carmel to set up an opportunity for a trip to the state title game. Brother Rice quarterback Jack Lausch ran for 253 yards and four touchdowns in last week’s win.