One more Leonard Bowl? What to know about IHSA playoff pairings around Springfield
Nobody needed to mention the prospect of another Leonard Bowl.
Everybody knew about it during a reunion party honoring longtime Sacred Heart-Griffin football coach Ken Leonard.
A postseason tussle with son Derek and Rochester looms on the horizon again after the Illinois High School Association unveiled its football playoff pairings on Saturday. The longtime rivals return to the south bracket in Class 4A to set up a possible meeting in the state semifinals for a second consecutive season.
Every playoff game:Complete IHSA football pairings for 2022
“They don't have to, we all know,” Derek said during the tribute that included a number of players and coaches that have graced Ken’s sidelines over the years. “Hopefully we're both lucky enough to maybe get there. ... To get to the semifinals you've got to have a special team, so we got to win and they got to win and we'll deal with it when we get there.”
The No. 2-seeded Cyclones (9-0) open the first round against No. 15 Spring Valley Hall (5-4) at Ken Leonard Field at 7 p.m. Friday.
No. 4 Rochester (8-1) hosts No. 13 Effingham (5-4) at Rocket Booster Stadium at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“You just live the motto: the most important games are the ones in front of you, and that's the most important game,” Ken said amid the cordial fanfare. “If you don't win this one, then you don't get to move on. We have a model. We want to practice on Monday, that's the big thing.”
SHG leads the Leonard Bowl series 10-5. That includes two consecutive postseason meetings (not counting the shortened spring season in 2021).
The Leonard Bowl:The top 5 games so far in the SHG-Rochester football series
Ken’s Cyclones won last year’s 4A state semifinal clash 49-42 before settling for second place against Joliet Catholic Academy, who is seeded No. 5 in the north bracket with a 7-2 mark. Derek’s Rockets previously dispatched SHG 49-35 in the 5A state quarterfinals in 2019.
SHG, ranked No. 1 in 4A by The Associated Press, topped No. 4 Rochester 62-27 in Week 1.
Ken will retire at the end of this season. He will be replaced by assistant coach John Allison.
Ken certainly enjoyed the ceremony, a poignant reflection of his decorated career. Ditto Derek as they shared the stage together as a family.
“Anytime you get all of these people together, it makes you think,” Derek said. “It's a good thing because it shows how many people that are around you who care about you and love you. This is our life in a room and it's been an awesome life.”
Elsewhere in the CS8
No. 8-seeded Chatham Glenwood will make its sixth playoff appearance under coach David Hay and welcomes No. 9 Quincy (7-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Class 6A.
The winner advances to the second round against either top-seeded Lemont (9-0) or Blue Island Eisenhower (5-4). The Titans previously defeated Lemont 24-21 in the first round of the 6A playoffs in 2019. Last season, Lemont knocked off Springfield High en route to the 6A quarterfinals.
More:Where and when Springfield-area teams play in the 2022 IHSA football playoffs
In Class 5A, No. 9 Jacksonville (6-3) visits No. 8 Metamora (6-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The winner advances against either top-seeded Mahomet-Seymour (9-0) or No. 16 Ottawa (5-4). The Crimsons previously fell to Mahomet 50-8 the first round of last year’s 5A playoffs.
No. 14 Decatur MacArthur (5-4) opens against No. 3 Peoria High (8-1).
New playoff perspective at Hillsboro
In Joe Reed’s 12 seasons as an assistant coach at Athens, the Warriors made the playoffs 10 times, advanced to the quarterfinals four times and the state semifinals twice — 2017 and 2019. Now he has a chance to lead a program in the postseason for the first time with Hillsboro.
No. 8 Hillsboro (6-3) will host former South Central Conference foe Roxana (No. 9, also 6-3) in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.
“I think it’s big, not only for our school but our community and I’m pretty excited for the challenge and the opportunity,” Reed said.
Hillsboro, which won its final four games and lost all three of its games to playoff teams on the road, is ready for the postseason, Reed said.
“I feel like that’s one of the benefits of our conference is you’ve got to be ready every week because you’re going to be tested,” Reed said. “You hope that’s something that serves you well in the playoffs is that strength of schedule.”
After five weeks, Hillsboro sat at 2-3 but beat Gillespie, Staunton, Piasa Southwestern and Litchfield to close out the season on a hot streak. Reed said the team got better as the seniors did.
“I just think it’s our identity and our leadership from our seniors,” Reed said of the improvements the Hiltoppers made. “As you get towards the end of the year … the seniors kind of realize it’s now or never.
“They’ve taken a lot more ownership over the last few weeks and made practices more meaningful. Now that we’re in the second season, I feel like we’re in a good place. … I know they wanted (the playoffs) really bad.”
It’s just the fourth playoff appearance for Hillsboro since 2010.
A stern test for Williamsville
No. 3 Williamsville (8-1) welcomes No. 14 Carlinville (5-4) at Paul Jenkins Field at 7 p.m. Friday in the 3A bracket.
The Cavaliers won five straight games before bowing to state-ranked Pana 21-7 in the regular-season finale. Williamsville also previously dropped to Carlinville 35-21 of the 3A quarterfinals in 2018 before going the distance the following season.
A win sets up a second-round matchup against either No. 6 Eureka (7-2) or No. 11 Beardstown (5-4). The Tigers lost to Williamsville 43-22 in the first round of the 3A playoffs last season.
Auburn back in the playoffs
In his second season at the Auburn helm, Ryan Gardner feels a sense of pride in guiding the Trojans to the postseason. No. 13 Auburn (6-3) will face No. 4 Pana (8-1) in the southern Christian County community in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs at Friday at 7 p.m.
“It feels good to be able to get us back to what we believe is where we belong,” said Gardner, a 2010 Auburn graduate who played under the longtime coach Dave Bates.
Healthy and hungry: Healthy and hungry: Auburn football ready for a return to the IHSA state playoffs
The three-win turnaround for the Trojans wasn’t the result of an overhaul in schemes or a different approach to the game. It was through the patience of knowing last year’s underclassmen would gain valuable experience in a tough Sangamo Conference, Gardner believed.
“We had a lot of sophomores that played for us last year that are now juniors,” Gardner said. “Our seniors this year were returning as well but they have a ton of leadership skills. Experience for two classes in a row has led to some really, really confident players for us.”
When Bates retired after the 2020-21 season after 35 seasons and a 254-120 record, Gardner knew he had big shoes to fill. When Auburn beat Stanford Olympia 48-26 in Week 8 to lock up a playoff berth, Bates’ approval meant a lot to his former player and assistant coach.
“He doesn’t say much and he tries to keep himself out of the way; he respects the fact that he handed it over to us,” Gardner said. “But when we got that sixth win, he shook my hand and said ‘Congratulations.’ He’s a man of few words sometimes but it meant a lot.”
Gardner knows Auburn has its hands full with Pana. Pana and North Mac tied for the South Central Conference championship.
North Mac could loom in the second round and hosts No. 12 Fairfield (6-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday in its playoff opener.
No. 9 Athens, 7-2 overall and previously in 1A last season, draws host Carmi White County (7-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday. A win would likely advance to the second round against top-seeded Decatur St. Teresa (9-0).
“I know they’re very well coached,” Gardner said of Pana. “Coach (Trevor) Higgins has done a great job, their quarterback (Max Lynch) is a threat to run and he’s got a good, strong arm. He’s one of the best runners in the state.
“We played them in 7-on-7 over the summer and (Lynch) had a really good supporting cast around him. They’re a really good offense and their defense looks fast. It will be a good matchup between two good football teams.”
'Playoff atmosphere': Balanced Pana thrives in big victory over state-ranked North Mac
A quick look at Class 1A and 8-Man
No. 5 Jacksonville Routt (7-2) will make its first playoff appearance since 2018 against No. 12 Villa Grove (6-3) at Freesen Field at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Rockets secured home-field advantage with a 34-20 road victory over previously unbeaten and state-ranked Greenfield/Northwestern.
No. 11 Rushville-Industry (6-3) visits No. 6 Toledo Cumberland (7-2). The winner faces either No. 3 Greenfield or No. 14 Hardin Calhoun (5-4).
In the Illinois 8-Man Football Association, No. 9 Pawnee (6-3) is set to visit No. 8 Champaign St. Thomas More (6-3) while No. 14 Kincaid South Fork (5-4) heads to No. 3 Cambridge Ridgewood (8-1).
Pawnee was the No. 9 seed last season before losing Milford-Cissna Park in the first round. Earlier this season, PHS fell to St. Thomas More 28-22 in Week 5 but has won its last three games. South Fork lost to Cambridge 44-14 in Week 8.
Springfield-area playoff football games
Here is the Springfield-area schedule for the 2022 Illinois High School Association football playoffs, listed class-by-class and in bracket order.
Class 1A
No. 12 Villa Grove (6-3) at No. 5 Jacksonville Routt (7-2), 1 p.m. Saturday
No. 11 Rushville-Industry (6-3) at No. 6 Toledo Cumberland (7-2), TBA
Class 2A
No. 9 Athens (7-2) at No. 8 Carmi White County (7-2), 2 p.m. Saturday
No. 13 Auburn (6-3) at No. 4 Pana (8-1), 7 p.m. Friday
No. 12 Fairfield (6-3) at No. 5 Virden North Mac (8-1), 2 p.m. Saturday
Class 3A
No. 9 Roxana (6-3) at No. 8 Hillsboro (6-3), TBA
No. 14 Carlinville (5-4) at No. 3 Williamsville (8-1), 7 p.m. Friday
No. 11 Beardstown (5-4) at No. 6 Eureka (7-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday
Class 4A
No. 13 Effingham (5-4) at No. 4 Rochester (8-1), 1 p.m. Saturday
No. 15 Spring Valley Hall (5-4) at No. 2 Sacred Heart-Griffin (9-0), 7 p.m. Friday
Class 5A
No. 9 Jacksonville (6-3) at No. 8 Metamora (6-3), 2 p.m. Saturday
Class 6A
No. 9 Quincy (7-2) at No. 8 Chatham Glenwood (7-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA football: What to know about playoff pairings around Springfield
