Playoffs: worth the wait

Whew!

Now Libertyville coach Randy Kuceyeski can sleep. A little bit anyway.

"The pressure is off," laughed Kuceyeski, knowing that it is-but that it is also just beginning. "We're pretty happy right now."

Kuceyeski's Wildcats were under a tremendous amount of pressure all week as they prepared for their regular season finale against Lake Forest.

A win and the Wildcats would make the playoffs. A loss and they would miss in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 16 years.

Of course, it didn't help matters that the suspense was drawn out an extra day.

Because of inclement weather, including lightning, Friday's scheduled game at Lake Forest was postponed until Saturday morning.

"I wasn't sleeping much all week," Kuceyeski said. "And then it went another night."

Sleep deprivation was a small price to pay for Saturday's payoff. The Wildcats played their best game of the season and rolled over Lake Forest 24-7 to slip into the Class 7A playoffs with a 5-4 record.

The Wildcats, who have won five of their last six games, earned a No. 14 seed and will travel to Rockford to take on No. 3 Boylan, which boasts a 9-0 record.

Libertyville was one of 11 Lake County schools to make the playoffs. The pairings were unveiled Saturday night by the IHSA on a two-hour television show.

Antioch got the highest seed in Lake County. The undefeated Sequoits (9-0) earned the No. 2 seed in Class 6A and will open with a home game against No. 15 Chicago Harlan of the Public League.

"We had a pizza party tonight at school and we all watched the show together," said Antioch coach Brian Glashagel, who was interviewed via telephone by the hosts of the show. "We still have about 20 guys left here hanging around, looking up stuff on the IHSA Web site. We're all pretty excited here."

But not too excited. Glashagel says he's going to make sure to keep his players' heads out of the clouds.

He says the 9-0 regular season record means little now.

"Everyone's good now," Glashagel said. "The playoffs are another season. We don't want to be like the Cubs where people think you're this and that because of your regular season and then you get smoked in the playoffs.

"We're not going to take anybody for granted."

You better believe Grant and Vernon Hills won't be doing that either.

The two Prairie Division foes will experience a bit of déjà vu as they face off for the second time in a week. They played each other in the final game of the regular season on Friday - a 7-6 Vernon Hills victory - and are due to face off this weekend in Class 6A first round action.

At 6-3, Grant got a No. 13 seed while Vernon Hills earned a No. 4 seed with its 8-1 record.

"I'm actually thrilled to be playing them again," Grant coach Kurt Rous said. "It makes life (scouting) a lot easier. Plus, I want redemption. We played well enough to win, but did enough things to lose. I'm happy that we're getting this rematch."

Meanwhile, Warren (8-1) is happy that a "rematch" against Maine South - its only loss on the season - wouldn't come until a possible semifinals matchup in Class 8A.

No. 2 Maine South is 9-0 and has one of the best quarterbacks in the state in Charlie Goro, who is headed to Vanderbilt. The Blue Devils earned a No. 5 seed and are on the opposite side of the bracket. They'll open with a home game against No. 12 York (6-3), which they were able to scout in person on Saturday.

"This is probably the first time since I've been here that we haven't been in the same side of the bracket as Maine South," Warren coach Dave Mohapp said of the perennial powerhouse. "If you're an 8A team in the north suburbs, you've got to be thankful if you're not in the same bracket as Maine South."

So where does that leave Stevenson?

Not only is Stevenson in the same bracket as Maine South, the Patriots open the playoffs at Maine South. Stevenson slipped into the playoffs with a 5-4 record and got a No. 15 seed.

Besides Libertyville, Carmel and Lake Zurich also made the Class 7A field.

No. 4 Carmel (8-1) hosts No. 13 Wheeling (6-3) and No. 10 Lake Zurich (6-3), the defending Class 7A state champion, travels to No. 7 St. Charles East (7-2).

"We played Wheeling once in the 70s," Carmel coach Andy Bitto said. "I really don't know much about them other than they run the spread offense. But I'm pretty optimistic. We're playing really well right now in all phases. I think in any one-game series we can play with anyone."

Barrington, Highland Park and Lake Forest will also represent Lake County in the playoffs.