Scouting the Class 5A semifinals
CLASS 5A SEMIFINAL
No. 7 Vernon Hills Cougars (9-3) at No. 13 Sycamore Spartans (8-4)
When: 2 p.m., Saturday
Road to the semifinals: Vernon Hills def. Chicago Urban Prep/Bronzeville, 56-6, Nazareth, 10-2 and Woodstock Marian, 17-0; Sycamore def. Chicago Solorio, 42-21, Rochelle, 26-14, Sterling, 29-22 OT.
Playoff history: Vernon Hills is making its 11th playoff appearance overall and its second straight. This is the Cougars' first trip to the semifinals. Sycamore is making its 14th playoff appearance overall and its eighth straight.
Skinny: Vernon Hills coach Bill Bellecomo is surprising himself. He figured he'd be more keyed up this week. His team is playing for a berth in the Class 5A state championship game, after all. It would be the first-ever in school history. "People are saying that I'm not like I've been in previous years," Bellecomo said. "They say I'm pretty relaxed. It is different for me. I'm usually not relaxed (before big games)." Bellecomo says he's taking a cue from his players. He says they are extremely loose, given the circumstances. "I think it goes to the seniors," Bellecomo said. "We have 16 seniors who have played football with each other for so long. And they were in a lot of big games together. In the TCYFL (youth football) days, they were in Super Bowls and a lot of big games. They are used to this. They are used to big games and so they're loose. They make it easy for the rest of us to stay loose."…That's not to say that the Cougars aren't focused. The defense was again on point last week in the quarterfinals in a shutout of Marian. Vernon Hills forced 4 Marian turnovers, 2 interceptions and 2 lost fumbles. "The last two games, our defense has been lights out," Bellecomo said. "We continue to fly around. We stopped (Marian) on 4th-and-1, we got sacks, fumble recoveries. We prepared our kids really well on defense." Andrew "Chick" Smith, a first-team all-state selection, had a big game for the Cougars. He had 13 tackles, a sack and 2 fumble recoveries. Drew Winegardner added an interception…Offensively, the Cougars, as they have been doing lately, did just enough to get the victory. Kicker Andrew Szmyt nailed a 27-yard field goal, Kyle Hull ran in both touchdowns and Chris Mariella came up with some big catches in the meantime. "We kind of played it conservatively offensively because we realized early on that our defense was playing so well that we didn't need to take a lot of chances on offense," Bellecomo said. "We even felt good when we had a 3-0 lead. That's how well our defense was playing. But we feel we're going to have to score more this week to win. At least 21 points."…Sycamore snuck into the playoffs on points with a 5-4 record. The Spartans had started the season 0-2 after a 27-20 loss to Grayslake North in Week 2. "They actually started 1-3 but we've been told that they had some early injuries," Bellecomo said of Sycamore. "But they've gone 7-1 since then because those injured players came back. Two of their losses are to Morris and DeKalb, teams that are in the semifinals. So this is a tough Sycamore team (despite the 5-4 regular season record)."…Bellecomo says that Sycamore runs a balanced offense. Quarterback Tyler Sulaver is a proficient passer and running back Luke Ryan gets plenty of carries.
Next: Winner advances to the Class 5A IHSA state championship game at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26 at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois in Champaign and will face the winner of No. 1 Peoria at No. 3 Morris.
- Patricia Babcock McGraw