Tough playoff tests loom for MSL teams, St. Viator

It's football playoff time, what better way to celebrate the occasion than to gather in homes and at local restaurants on Saturday night to find out about about the opening-round matchups.

Barrington, Fremd, Rolling Meadows and Hersey each earned another postseason voyage after qualifying last season.

Palatine and St. Viator, meanwhile, return to the playoffs after a one-year absence.

Palatine, Barrington and Fremd all qualified in 8A, which is loaded with talented teams this year.

All three of those Mid-Suburban League teams drew tough assignments in the first round in the brutal North bracket.

Palatine (7-2), which has won six in a row and captured the MSL West title, drew a No. 10 seed. The Pirates will play at No. 7 Huntley (8-1), a team that is averaging nearly 45 points.

"We have had a lot of skeptics this year," Palatine coach Rick Splitt said. "But we have played good football when the kids step up and do it. We are are excited for the opportunity to play a new opponent."

Barrington, which lost last year to Stevenson in the semifinals, was given a No. 6 seed.

The Broncos will host Oak Park-River Forest (7-2), which finished second in the West Suburban Silver.

"Every team is good this time of the year," said Barrington coach Joe Sanchez. "We need to stay focused because they are a very talented team, coming from a very talented conference. But they are comparable to teams we have played this year."

Fremd may have drawn the most difficult of all assignments.

The Vikings (6-3) garnered a 15th seed and will travel to play Glenbard West (9-0) on Saturday afternoon.

The Hilltoppers, who are defending Class 7A champions, moved up to 8A this year. That makes them one of the smallest schools in that class.

"You have to play them all eventually," said Fremd coach Lou Sponsel. "I told our kids last night that we will play anyone, any time and any place. I love this group of kids we have."

Rolling Meadows, which lost last year in the quarterfinals to eventual state champion Batavia in the 6A playoffs, moved up a class this year to 7A.

The Mustangs should have quarterback RJ Mattucci and offensive tackle Greg Off back this week after they missed last week with injuries.

The Mustangs (7-2) are seeded eighth and will host No. 9 St. Charles North (7-2). The North Stars defeated Elk Grove 13-2 in the first week of the regular season.

"I don't really know that much about them," said Rolling Meadows coach Matt Mishler. "But we will see what they look like on film.

"I know our guys are champing at the bit to play. I expect a very good week of practice."

Hersey, which beat Meadows on Friday in a showdown in the MSL East, is also in 7A.

The Huskies (6-3), who lost in the opening round last year, are seeded 13th and will travel to play Geneva, whose only loss this year came to Batavia.

"We are really excited to be playing a team of their caliber," said Hersey first-year coach Joe Pardun. "We really don't know that much about them right now, but I have seen them play last year, in the playoffs against Lake Zurich.

"It is not a team we expected. But it should be a great test for us to see where we are."

St. Viator had a tough time in its final regular season game on Saturday.

The Lions traveled to LaGrange and lost to Nazareth Academy 49-21. Tyler Johnston hooked up with Ben Dickey for a pair of touchdown passes while Eric Doersching had a touchdown run,

Despite the loss, St. Viator (5-4, 4-3) was still able to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in two years and the second time under coach Brandon New.

"Our playoff points show the type of competion we have played this year," said New, whose team had the fourth highest playoff point total of all teams with 48. "We feel pretty battle-tested and are well prepared."

The Lions did not drop to 4A as they'd hoped and instead will be one of the smallest teams in 5A.

Seeded 13th, St. Viator will travel to play Chicago Urban Prep/Englewood of the Chicago Public League, the fourth seed.

"Everyone is in the playoffs for a reason," New said. "It is exciting for our kids to make the playoffs. Being a 5-4 team, sometimes we get overlooked. But we know we will be ready."

Despite being 5-4, Buffalo Grove fell short of qualifying. The Bison finished with 32 playoff points, far short of the 39 needed to qualify.