Rival coaches speak: How Peoria High and Metamora can make the IHSA football quarterfinals
Speed, precision passing and physicality await Peoria High and Metamora in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.
The Lions are set to host Kankakee at 7 p.m. Friday, while Metamora travels to Mahomet-Seymour for a 7 p.m. Saturday kickoff. Both Peoria-area football teams are looking to make the quarterfinals for the first time since 2016.
Winning their respective second-round games won’t be an easy feat.
Just ask the Manual and Morton coaches, who this season faced their longtime conference rivals — but also those rivals' second-round playoff opponents:
IHSA football playoffs 2022: Playoff pairings, schedule, game times
Manual coach Dennis Bailey's team played Kankakee and Peoria High in back-to-back weeks, while Tim Brilley and Morton opened their season with Mahomet, then traveled to Metamora three weeks later.
‘Most explosive team’
Manual traveled to Kankakee in Week 4, suffering a 49-0 loss to the Kays (8-2), who were ranked No. 3 in the final poss by The Associated Press. One thing stuck out big-time for Bailey: speed.
Four-star recruit Jyaire Hill is a definite playmaker on both sides of the ball for Kankakee. He’ll line up all over on offense as an athlete, while also running some Wildcat.
“They’re a pretty fast team,” the first-year coach said. “The most explosive team we played this year. If (Peoria High) can contain their speed, I think they have a decent chance.
“Their speed is pretty mind-blowing.”
Running back Tony Phillips will join Hill in the Kankakee backfield. The junior transfer from Kankakee Bishop McNamara has next-level speed, winning four Class 1A state sprint championships last spring.
More:Peoria High strikes a beautiful balance as it opens the playoffs with a blowout victory
Bailey is also familiar with the lineman, especially Marques Easley. The 6-foot-7, 285-pound junior was at Manual last season.
“They got some size up front too,” Bailey said, “to go along with that speed.”
As for Kankakee, the defense will have to deal with Peoria High running back Malachi Washington. Manual got a big-time dose of the 5-foot-10, 206-pound senior, who ran for 245 yards and five touchdowns in Week 5’s 64-28 win.
Team tackling Washington will be a key for Kankakee, which boasts Power Five prospect Naz Hill in the secondary.
“How physically imposing (Peoria High) can be in the run game,” Bailey said. “I think that will give (Kankakee) trouble.”
Two other potential factors in deciding the outcome of this game are the Peoria Stadium playing surface and Peoria High’s offensive pace. The Stadium’s rough grass field may slow down the Kays, who play their home games on turf.
The Lions run an up-tempo offense, churning out plays at a six-second pace.
“I’m sure if they’re not familiar with that pace unless they play it,” Bailey said. “That’s one thing that probably could get them on it is playing against that type of pace. It’s pretty unique in high school.”
‘Got us on some big plays’
Second-ranked Mahomet-Seymour scores at an impressive rate, averaging 48 points a game including a 51-point output in its Week 1 win over Morton. Bulldogs all-state quarterback Wyatt Bohm threw for 235 yards in that victory.
Mahomet will pass between 65-70 percent of the time, according to Brilley, more than any team unranked Metamora had seen during the regular season.
“Mahomet is a heavy pass team,” he said, “… and they’re very good at it.
“I think it’s a good matchup. I think that throughout the year the schedule that Metamora has played will help them be ready for this game.”
More:'Game of my life': Metamora senior adds to family's long, successful football legacy
Metamora, which averaged 40 points in its final two regular-season games, set a playoff program scoring record by beating Jacksonville, 68-34. The Redbirds seem to be hitting their stride offensively, Brilley says.
A key for the Metamora defense will be making M-S put drives together.
“They kind of live and die on the big play,” Brilley said. “They got us on some big plays. Things they did in the Week 1 game that we didn’t do in the playoffs.”
Morton, which beat the Bulldogs 40-28 in last year’s 5A quarterfinals, did have a bit of trouble on special teams. Mahomet returned three kickoffs for touchdowns in those two meetings.
Mahomet also has a defense that consistently rushes five or six players, filling every gap and playing man-to-man on the outside.
“They just try to create chaos,” Brilley said. “(Metamora will) be able to find something that they like. They do a good job throwing the ball also.”
Offensively, Metamora QB Kaden Hartnett has 771 passing yards with 11 TDs, while rushing for 844 yards with 16 touchdowns. Running back Kam Davis has scored six TDs to go with 699 rushing yards.
Hartnett’s favorite targets have been Noah Symmonds (213 yards, 2 TDs), Broderick Schroers (209 yards, 4 TDs) and Kendrick Schaffrin, who has three TDs on only three catches.
“Metamora is going to be really prepared,” Brilley said.
More:Check out the Illinois high school football state rankings and poll for 2022
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Manual football, Morton coaches scout Peoria High, Metamora opponents
