Sycamore looking to claim 3rd straight conference crown in showdown with Morris

SYCAMORE – The Sycamore football team already has faced one undefeated team this year, losing, 42-20, at home against Richmond-Burton in Week 6.

With the lessons of that game on their mind, the Spartans face an undefeated Morris team with the winner claiming the Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8 White title.

“We learned a ton off that game,” Sycamore running back Sam Carlson said. “We came out, we weren’t fast starters and they were. We know we have to walk into this Morris game and start pounding them right away.”

Against Richmond-Burton, Sycamore fell behind three touchdowns but got to within 21-20 in the third quarter. The Spartans also played the game without linebacker Kiefer Tarnoki, who returned last week in a 50-0 win against Woodstock.

“It shows that we weren’t ready for that one,” said linebacker Jackson Funderburg, who has a team-best 10 tackles for a loss, including two sacks. “We came out flat. We need to come out with a better mentality this game, and it will help us a lot.”

Coach Joe Ryan, who with the win against Woodstock became the winningest coach in program history, said his team always learns its lessons, whether it’s in games, practices or film study.

Ryan said the lesson against Richmond-Burton was a hard one, but one the team has definitely learned.

“We better be ready to step it up right when the kickoff goes,” Ryan said. “You can’t be down, 21-0, and think you’re going to have a chance in too many games. Obviously, we got back in that one, but I don’t think we answered the bell right at the beginning. Richmond-Burton did, so hopefully we learned we need to be really fast starters or really good teams will get on you.”

Morris rolled past La Salle-Peru last week, 31-7, to avenge one of its two losses from the spring season. The other was against Sycamore.

This season, the winner of this game will win the conference outright. If it’s Sycamore, it will be the third straight conference championship for the team after winning in 2019, the first year in the I-8, and splitting the spring title with La Salle-Peru.

“It’s a really big accomplishment for the whole team,” said Carlson, who leads the Spartans with 752 all-purpose yards. “It takes every single guy’s work, the whole team. The linemen, the waterboy, everything. It’s just a big accomplishment for us all.”

Ryan said winning this title would be the toughest of the three since it would involve the Spartans knocking off an undefeated team to do so.

“That would be a really‚ really good accomplishment for our kids,” Ryan said. “This is probably going to be the hardest one. You’ve got to go on the road against a really good team to do it. It’ll be well-earned if we get it. It will be a really, really good accomplishment. Winning conference championships are still important in my mind.”

With the playoffs starting next week, Ryan said this game is a good measuring stick for a couple programs that are hoping to make deep runs.

“They’re going to be a really good playoff team, and we have aspirations to be a very good playoff team,” Ryan said. “So we’ll find out where we’re at. I think both teams want to see where they are going in the playoffs, and I think the No. 1 thing is to play a good clean game and come out healthy.”