Wheeling prepares for trip to LZ

The slogan changed from "Get it Done" to "Got it Done" last Friday night at Wheeling.

It changed again about half an hour after it clinched its first playoff trip in 11 years and a share of its first Mid-Suburban League division title in 13 years.

"We're not done," defensive coordinator and Wheeling alum Brian Hauck told his players.

Getting it done and not being done won't be easy in Wheeling's first playoff assignment since 1996. It hits the road to Lake Zurich for a Class 7A opener against last year's state runner-up.

But the Wildcats aren't looking at these Bears as if they're the Monsters of the Midway.

"We talked about how all the teams are good now, but we're good also," said Wheeling coach Dave Dunbar. "We have to go out and do our thing and believe we belong and go out and perform against them."

One thing the Wildcats don't expect is another 11-year gap before the program is in the playoffs again.

"We're going to have a new attitude around here now," said Wheeling senior linebacker-offensive lineman Justin Arvidson. "We've been working to get a new attitude and we've finally got it."

No surprise party: It's definitely been different this week for Barrington coach Joe Sanchez.

"I'd be the first to admit it's very odd," Sanchez said of the Broncos missing the playoffs for the first time in his six years as head coach.

Even as the Broncos woke up Saturday after a wild 49-46 win over Schaumburg they held out hope of making the playoffs with a 5-4 record.

But their 34 playoff points left them as one of 11 teams at 5-4 left out of the 256-team field.

"By early Saturday afternoon we started to kind of have an idea things may not work out," Sanchez said. "We were still holding out hope and looking for any kind of upset.

"It's disappointing. But in the same respect there are a lot of things to be proud of, like the fact we gave ourselves a chance there at the end where we very easily could have gone the other way."

The future looks bright for Barrington to be holding another Saturday night playoff pairings party next year. Running back Sam Ojuri and quarterback Cody Seeger will lead a big crew of returnees into a completely renovated home stadium.

"It's exciting," Sanchez said. "Hopefully it will be done in time when we play Libertyville at home (in the season opener)."

Rejuvenated Mustangs: Maybe going undefeated and being ranked No. 1 for most of the regular season took a toll on Rolling Meadows.

But Meadows coach Doug Millsaps liked what he saw in the first two days of practice for Notre Dame. That includes linebacker Joe Okon, receiver-defensive back Ty Kirk, defensive lineman Paul Hames and versatile Trevor Fritz looking better after nagging injuries.

"Sometimes it's a relief just to get here," Millsaps said. "There is certainly a bounce in their step and a level of intensity and attention to detail we really haven't seen in two or three weeks."

Luck of the draw: Rockford Boylan has overpowered all but one of its NIC-10 opponents by at least 35 points.

But Boylan coach Dan Appino doesn't pretend that opening with Prospect portends another running clock romp.

"I think we probably got one of the worst 5-4 draws in the state," Appino said with a laugh of his undefeated Titans facing the three-time state champion Knights.

Boylan's only close call came in Week 8 as it held on for a 6-3 victory after Rockton Hononegah was short on a tying 43-yard field goal. The starters didn't play past halftime in its first four games and it wasn't truly pushed past halftime until Week 6, a 41-6 win over 7-2 Belvidere.

"I don't know if it was a reflection on our conference or how well we played early in the year," Appino said of the Titans' 39-point average margin. "It's probably a combination of both.

"It was critical we played a game where it made our kids have to think it through all four quarters."

Roll out the green carpet: Leyden will be accustomed to playing on artificial turf when it faces Mt. Carmel at Gately Stadium.

The village of Rosemont set up a practice field for the Eagles to use this week under the lights with turf used by the Chicago Rush placed over a couple of baseball diamonds.

"Mayor (Bradley) Stephens has really taken care of us," said Leyden coach Tom Cerasani. "The really great thing out of all this is it's a great thing for the program to see.

"It's really cool. The kids feel really special."

And Cerasani would love to see it lead to special moment against the 10-time state champion Caravan.

"The thing we can hope for is we're the last seed and they're supposed to win," Cerasani said. "We really have nothing to lose and all the pressure is on them. We want to come in and have a good time with it."

Another tough start: Even in the years when Fremd has entered the playoffs with a high seed it hasn't had the luxury of lowering its level of play because of the opponent.

Facing perennial playoff qualifier Stevenson is no exception after playing Schaumburg on consecutive weeks last year and opening with perennial qualifier Lyons two years ago.

"We sure don't have (an easy) one this time around," said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci of a Stevenson team with losses to playoff qualifiers Loyola, Glenbrook South, Lake Zurich and Warren. "We're going to have to come out playing hard."

But there is a benefit to a test until the clock hits 0:00 rather than killing time with a running-clock rout.

"If you're going to make a run it's better to play someone who is substantial," Donatucci said. "Stevenson definitely is."

Crowd control: Because one side of Lane Tech's stadium is closed for renovation, Palatine received only 750 tickets to sell for tonight's playoff game.

But Lane has already made extensive changes to its on-campus stadium just a few miles west of Wrigley Field.

Permanent lights were installed before the 2006 season and a synthetic turf playing surface was put in before this season thanks to a $200,000 grant from the Bears.

"For our homes games we've had 3,000 on our side alone," said Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly. "It's a different experience for us and that's alright.

"We're just excited to go and play."

And Palatine might have issues finding enough seats for everyone next week if it won tonight and hosted Mt. Carmel in the second round next week.

A Knight to the Eagles: Mike Anderson, an all-area player who led Prospect to its first state title in 2001, is student teaching at Leyden and has been working with the varsity and sophomores this season.

Rolling Meadows grad Brian O'Grady and Conant grad Jason Cartwright are also underlevel assistants with the Eagles.