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Three Bureau County football teams - Hall, Princeton and St. Bede - will be lining up for the IHSA state playoffs this weekend for the first time since 2003.
Hall and St. Bede have each made the playoffs 12 times since and Princeton five times, but this is the first time in 19 years the Bureau County trio all qualified in the same season. That same year, 2003, all five teams with Bureau County ties, including Bureau Valley and Amboy-LaMoille, made the playoffs.
They will be joined by the Amboy co-op, which includes players from LaMoille and Ohio, in the 8-Man Football Association postseason.
Class 4A: Hall (5-4) at Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (9-0)
The playoff picture looked bleak for the Hall Red Devils, sitting 1-3 after four weeks and 3-4 after seven weeks. But they upset rival and then 1A No. 6 St. Bede 42-27 in Week 8 and held off a resurgent Bureau Valley Storm 44-34 in the regular season finale to punch their ticket.
Their assignment will not be an easy one. Sacred Heart-Griffin (9-0) is No. 1 ranked in 4A and winners of five state championships under veteran coach Ken Leonard, who is the winningest coach in state history with 413 victories.
“It’s good to be back in the playoffs,” Hall coach Randy Tieman said. “It’s just an unlucky draw. We will prepare like we do every week and our kids will go down and play the best we can.”
Hall, which has made its last three playoff appearance in 3A, and was in 2A as recent as (2013-15), enters the field this year in 4A with its new co-op with neighbor Putnam County. They have a combined enrollment of 702.5 with Stillman Valley being the largest school in 3A at 559.
Game time is 7 p.m. in the state capitol. The SHG field is located at 1601 West Washington, Springfield, just west of the school.
Tieman has led the Red Devils into the playoffs in both stints as the Hall head coach taking over from a 1-8 season in the previous year. He guided the Red Devils to the playoffs for the first time in 2013 and has a 6-6 record in six playoff appearances, reaching the 2A quarterfinals in 2015.
Class 3A: Peotone (5-4) at Princeton (9-0)
The Tigers roll into the playoffs for the fourth straight season under coach Ryan Pearson, the second as a No. 1 seed. They reached the 3A semifinals in 2019 and the 3A quarterfinals last year. The pandemic of 2020 kept them from making another deep run, which led to a 6-0 spring campaign in 2021.
In Peotone, the Tigers will face a Blue Devils team which is battled tested playing in the Illinois Central Eight Conference. League champ Reed-Custer (9-0) is ranked is No. 2 in 3A, one spot ahead of Princeton, and runner-up Wilmington is ranked No. 3 in 2A. Peotone lost to Wilmington (28-13) and Reed-Custer (48-0) in back-to-back weeks.
“Peotone is very physical up front, and they have some aggressive backs. They aren’t flashy on offense, but they execute very well what they do,” Pearson said.
There will be an early kick-off at 6 p.m. Friday at Bryant Field.
Princeton has a playoff history with Peotone, having lost to the Blue Devils 20-14 at Peotone in 2003 in what would be Joe Ryan’s last game as the Tigers’ head coach.
Hall beat Peotone 20-0 in the 3A playoff opener in 2019.
Class 1A: Forreston (5-4) at St. Bede (7-2)
The Bruins regained some momentum for the playoffs after two straight losses by defeating Mendota 39-20 on Friday to finish 7-2 after a 6-0 start.
St. Bede coach Jim Eustice is excited to earn playoff opener at home again.
“It’s the second year in a row with a first-round home game,” St. Bede coach Jim Eustice said. “We are excited for the opportunity to play a tremendous program in Forreston. It will be a physical game and one heck of an atmosphere.”
Forreston finished fourth in the rugged Northwest Upstate Illini Conference, which produced five playoff teams, including 1A No. 1-ranked and defending state champion Lena-Winslow. The Cardinals played the Panthers to a 28-14 loss on Friday, one of four losses to playoff teams combing for a 28-8 record.
The Saturday matinee will kick off at 2 p.m. at St. Bede.
8-man football: Blue Ridge (6-3) at Amboy co-op (7-2)
The Clippers start what they hope to make another deep run in the Illinois 8-Man Football Association playoffs. They lost in the semifinals last year.
The Amboy co-op includes two juniors from Ohio (Troy Anderson and Vincent Zembrzuski) and seven players from LaMoille (Connor Deering, Ed Fry, Gio Gatza, Brayden Klien, Ian Sundberg, Tate Sundberg, Cody Winn).
Kickoff from the Harbor Saturday will be at 3 p.m.
- Kevin Chlum contributed to this report