Defending 3A state champion Byron next to come to town for undefeated Seneca

High school football fans have what looks to be a heck of a matchup coming to La Salle County on Friday night when the 10-0 Seneca Fighting Irish play host to the 9-1 Byron Tigers in a second-round Class 3A playoff contest.

The only loss suffered by either team this fall is Byron’s Week 1 defeat at the hands of the team it ultimately shared the Big Northern Conference title with, Stillman Valley. Since that 15-7 loss, the Tigers have won nine straight, including wins over fellow playoff teams Winnebago (42-7), Rockford Lutheran (45-6), Genoa-Kingston (35-15) and Dixon (49-14) in the regular season and Friday’s 52-7 crushing of Lisle in which Byron outgained the Lions 364-120 in yards from scrimmage and did not punt.

In those nine straight wins, Byron has outscored its opponents by an average score of 46.4-6.8.

“I think we’re peaking at the right time,” Tigers coach Jeff Boyer said.

The Fighting Irish, too, have been putting in peak performance after peak performance for about two months now.

Although it doesn’t have a loss, the Vermilion Valley Football Alliance North champion did have some close calls early in the season, namely Week 1′s 35-33 win over Westville and Week 3′s 37-35 triumph over Salt Fork. Both are playoff teams, as are later Seneca victims Iroquois West (35-0), Clifton Central (28-0) and in last week’s first-round win, Winnebago (48-20). For the season, Seneca is outscoring opponents by an average score of 39.7-10.4.

“Very good football team,” Boyer said of the Irish. “They’re undefeated, they haven’t lost, they’re a higher seed than us. We’re the underdogs. We’re going to have to come in there and play well.”

Maxwell, too, believes his team could carry an underdog’s chip on the shoulder into this one. After all, Byron isn’t just on a nine-game winning streak. The Tigers also are a perennial playoff power and have played in the past three Class 3A state championship games ... winning last year’s.

“It’s a great test for us,” Maxwell said. “You can’t be happier than to put yourself against a quality program and see what you’re made of.

“There are a lot of people who have picked against us and just don’t quite believe in what we’re doing. ... It’s a little bit of a different feel when you’re playing with a target on your back as opposed to being the underdog, but I feel most people probably look at us as the underdog this week. We’re fine with that too.”

Both teams prefer to run the ball but have proved capable of passing it.

Quarterback Braden Smith, a three-year starter, runs the Tigers’ wing-T offense with featured players including fullback Carsen Behn, wingback Ashton Henkel and additional RBs Brayden Knoll, Caden Cons

”We’re a team that’s going to run the football,” Boyer said. “That’s what we’re built on, but we also have a kid at quarterback who’s a three-year starter, so we trust him to throw the football as well. ...

“We’ve probably spread the ball out more than we ever have this year. ... We have a lot of kids who have carried the ball. It’s a good problem to have, a lot of kids who are athletic and can carry the ball.”

“They’re very balanced with their run game,” Maxwell said. “They like to go to the fullback, but their wings and their offset back and their quarterback are all threats. They run what they run, and they run it well.”

For Seneca, it is QB Nathan Grant – coming off a 215-yard rushing, two-touchdown passing performance in last week’s first-round win over Winnebago – running a power-T featuring the likes of tight end Kysen Klinker and RBs Collin Wright, Paxton Giertz, Asher Hamby and Braden Ellis.

“We just have to find the football,” Boyer said of defending the Irish’s deception-based offense. “They’re probably the best team I’ve ever seen as far as hiding the football, carrying out fakes. On any given play it looks like four guys have the ball, so we’ve got to make sure we play sound defense and find the football.”

“It will be a battle for us,” Maxwell said. “They’re a really quality defense; that’s kind of their hallmark up there. We’ve got our work cut out for us on offense.”

It’s a showdown that looks as if it should be a great one.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Friday Night Drive pick: Byron