Six-Game Winner York is Stevenson's First-Round Playoff Foe

Here's a quick note to the defensive backs. A quarterback named Joe Lucca is coming to town Friday night. And he can throw the football pretty well.

Playoff football has come to Stevenson High School, which will host York (6-3) from the West Suburban Silver Conference.

Stevenson coach Bill McNamara is well aware Lucca threw five first-half touchdown passes last week, so he has a plan for the visiting Dukes.

"York is a spread offensive team and puts the ball in the air,'' McNamara said. "They have a very good quarterback and very good receivers. We will have to put some pressure on him and cover well in the secondary."

Stevenson (7-2) pinned the ninth-straight loss on neighbor Mundelein 41-14 last week and earned a home playoff game in round one.

On paper it's a battle between high-scoring York and the stingy Stevenson defense. York has scored 30 or more points in seven of their contests. The Dukes even scored 49 points on opening night in a one-point loss to playoff-bound Rolling Meadows.

Stevenson's defense, inspired by the likes of Carl Miller and Quentin Lorenzo, has held opponents in check for most of the season.

The most points a team has scored on the Patriots is just 24 and that came on opening night in a loss to Lyons. On the other hand, the Pats hit a season-high 41 points last week against Mundelein.

"Defensively, York is big and physical up front," McNamara said. "Their defensive line anchors their defense. They challenge offenses and play very aggressive. We will have to control the line of scrimmage and convert when we have opportunities."

Stevenson's daunting schedule should help come playoff night. The Patriots earned wins this year over playoff qualifiers Lake Zurich, Glenbrook South and Libertyville.

Both York and Stevenson dropped games to Lyons this season.

"Overall, we need to play well in all three phases of the game for four quarters," McNamara said. "We are looking forward to the challenges that York will present on Friday night. It is the best time of the year. It's IHSA playoff football."

At Buffalo Grove: A season that began with such promise ended with eight straight losses. The Bison knocked off playoff qualifier Lake Forest on opening night and then hit a rough patch. And now comes the news head coach Jim Farrell has been relieved of his duties as varsity coach. He guided the Bison for four seasons.

"I'm proud of the work that we were doing as a staff here and as a program for the four years I was in charge," Farrell said. "Our kids were great young men in the community, fighting hard in games, staying our of trouble with no code violations. And we were placing kids with next next level opportunities."

After toppling Lake Forest 31-24 to open the campaign, the Bison lost a slug fest to Schaumburg 48-41 in week two. And then injuries began to mount.

Still Farrell felt his team stayed together despite the mounting losses.

"Our program was teaching kids the value of being a winner 365 days a year and not just nine Friday nights," Farrell said.