The La Salle-Peru and Princeton football teams both won opening-round playoff games over the weekend, but L-P coach JJ Raffelson and Princeton coach Ryan Pearson each saw plenty of areas where their teams could improve before this week’s first-round games.
The Class 5A No. 15-seeded Cavaliers (5-5), who play at No. 2 Chicago Ag Science (8-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Rockne Stadium in Chicago, turned the ball over three times and committed nine penalties for 95 yards.
“We have to clean things up 100%,” Raffelson said. “We could have been put in a lot of better positions if we didn’t have penalties. We would have had another forced turnover if we didn’t get a horse collar, and that would have been a touchdown [on a Mason Morscheiser fumble return]. So we have to clean some things up and get back to the drawing board.”
The Class 3A No. 17 Tigers, who travel to No. 1 Richmond-Burton (9-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday, were whistled for nine penalties for 101 yards, lost a fumble, gave up six pass plays of more than 20 yards, and, Pearson said, committed several fundamental miscues.
“Richmond-Burton is very, very good, so we’ve got to make sure that these mistakes we had tonight we do not make next week,” Pearson said. “Just fundamental things, getting your head across on a down block, I don’t know how many times our pad level was too high. There’s a gamut of things.”
HOW DID IT GO?
There was a lot of debate about the new expanded playoff format and whether or not two-, three-, or four-win teams deserved to be in the playoffs and whether or not there would be too many blowouts in the opening round.
How did it play out in the opening weekend?
La Salle-Peru and Princeton are both teams that would not have qualified under the old system at 4-5, but both won games to earn a spot in the first round. The Cavs were seeded to win, while the Tigers were seeded 17th and beat the 16 seed.
Across the eight classes, 36 teams pulled off upsets, including 12 three-win teams and three two-win teams.
As far as blowouts, 37 of the 128 opening round games were decided by 40 points or more, while 29 games were settled by 14 points or less.
A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE
Princeton traveled more than two hours to Chicago to play Saturday’s playoff game at Hanson Stadium, a 10,000-capacity stadium with a turf field that underwent a multi-year renovation that was completed before the 2025 season.
“The Chicago experience was different, but it was fun getting to play in the big city,” Princeton junior running back/linebacker Lane Goskusky said.
Goskusky said the biggest adjustment was the limited time the Tigers had before the game to get ready due to another game being played earlier in the day at the stadium, which is shared by Chicago Pubic League teams. West Chicago defeated Prosser 48-24 in a Class 7A opening round game before the Princeton-South Shore game.
“I think the biggest difference was the lack of preparation time pregame since there was a game before us,” Goskusky said. “We aren’t used to sharing a stadium with anyone and having that shortage of time, but we made it work and went out and had a night.”
STRONG SCHEDULES
The three NewsTribune/BCR area teams remaining – La Salle-Peru, Princeton and St. Bede – all played schedules that feature multiple teams still alive in the playoffs.
The Cavaliers faced six postseason qualifiers during the regular season, and all six are still playing. Kaneland (8-1) as a No. 2 seed and Wheaton Academy (7-2) as a No. 5 seed received byes in 5A, Morris (9-0) as a No. 1 seed earned a bye in 4A, No. 9 Sycamore (6-4) beat No. 24 Crystal Lake South 48-14 in a 5A opening round game, No. 14 Rochelle (6-4) won 51-6 over No. 19 IVC in a 4A opening round game and No. 13 Marquette (7-3) won 42-21 over Princeville in its Class 1A opening round game.
Princeton played six playoff teams, with three still playing in the first round. Riverdale (9-0) is a No. 1 seed and earned a bye in 2A, and Rockridge (8-1) is a No. 3 seed and had a bye in 1A. No. 14 Newman (6-4) beat Tremont 46-6 in the opening round and will play Rockridge in the first round. Mendota, Kewanee and Monmouth-Roseville all lost in the opening round in 3A.
St. Bede’s schedule featured seven playoff teams with five still alive. In 1A, No. 11 Fulton (7-3) beat No. 22 United 70-15, No. 13 Marquette (7-3) beat No. 20 Princeville 42-21, and No. 12 Dwight (7-3) beat No. 21 Bureau Valley 21-8. The Bruins also played Princeville and Bureau Valley. No. 22 Aurora Central Catholic (4-6) beat No. 11 Carver 49-8 in 4A and No. 15 St. Teresa (5-5) topped No. 18 Piasa Southwestern 42-7 in 2A.
GOOD EXPERIENCE
Mendota saw its season end with a 62-7 loss to Manteno in a Class 3A opening round game, but Mendota coach Jim Eustice felt it was a positive experience for the Trojans despite the lopsided score.
Mendota ended a five-year playoff drought.
“In year two for me here, we made another step,” Eustice said. “That was some playoff experience for our kids. We’re young, and hopefully this playoff experience will launch us into the offseason, and we’ll come back bigger and better.”