Round 2 Playoff Preview Southern Illinois

The opening weekend of the IHSA playoffs was exciting.  Many teams that expected wins did so, but now many will face schools they have never encountered, and the competition gets much more challenging. There will be a lot of good games this weekend, and they will look to secure their spot in the Elite 8. <hr /> <h5>Class 5A</h5> <strong>(5)</strong> <strong>Marion (9-1) at (4) Mascoutah (9-1)</strong> Mascoutah will be without All-Conference 2022 QB Chase Hanson for the remainder of the season. The Indians will need to rely on the attack of 2023 WR [player_tooltip player_id="103372" first="Allen" last="Middleton"] and 2023 WR [player_tooltip player_id="141088" first="Quincy" last="Hall Jr"]. who both came in the Top 10 in receiving yards across the state. Marion and 2022 WR Venson Newsome look to take advantage of the opportunity as they are a completely sound football team top to bottom and extremely well-coached by HS Kerry Martin and his staff. <h5>Class 4A</h5> <strong>(5) Carterville (8-2) (4) Freeburg (8-2)</strong> Carterville has a tough test in front of them in a good Freeburg team that controls the clock with the run game. 2022 QB [player_tooltip player_id="155048" first="Landon" last="Funderburg"] can make plays in the air when needed. Carterville Lions have a young team and strong defense; this will be an interesting matchup. <strong>(2) Breese (Central) (9-1) at </strong><strong>(7) Murphysboro [Coop] (7-3)</strong> 2022 QB Landon Geragosian leads the Cougar's attack with an exceptional pair of running backs, 2022 Miguel Velazquez and 2022 Marcus Price, with all three rushing for over 500 yards on the season. Murphysboro is a younger team and will have to stop the run to pull this win out on the road. I’m confident they will play much better than their #7 seed, with the coaching staff being as solid as they come. <h5>Class 3A</h5> <strong>(5) Fairfield (9-1) at </strong>(4) Williamsville (9-1) 2022 ATH [player_tooltip player_id= "155538" first= "Camden" last= "Robbins"] and his fellow Mules will hit the road heading north to Williamsville, where they face one of their toughest tests all season. Dual Threat 2023 QB Jake Seman will lead the Bullets potent offensive attack while also handing it to 2022 RB Hunter Moser. <strong>(7) Carlinville (8-2) at (2) Mt. Carmel (10-0)</strong> The 3A class is loaded with talent from Southern Illinois with all the impressive records. 2024 QB [player_tooltip player_id="132936" first="Blayne" last="Sisson"] leads the attack with strong ground game behind an excellent offensive line. The defense <span class="name-pointer">[player_tooltip player_id="155248" first="Zach" last="Allen"]</span>, Gage Kennard, and Dirk Knight has led a defense allowing just 50 points this season. Carlinville will put the defense to the test with their high powered offense that is electric. (6) Monticello (8-2)<strong> at (3) Benton (10-0) </strong> Benton is coming off a big win from round 1 42-0 over Southwestern Piasa. All-State 2022 QB [player_tooltip player_id="65707" first="Keegan" last="Glover"] was a triple threat Saturday with passing, rushing, and returning as he ran the opening halftime kickoff to the house. 2022 DB/WR [player_tooltip player_id="155522" first="Chase" last="Thomas"] and 2022 DE [player_tooltip player_id="155333" first="Patrick" last="Stanley"] made their presence known. Monticello travels to Tabor Field, where the Ranger's house will be rocking atmosphere no team will find easy to defeat them. I'm confident in Mr. Glover's taking control and leading his team to victory. <h5>Class 2A</h5> <strong>(5) Johnston City (9-1) at (4) Breese (Mater Dei) (10-0)</strong> 2022 Wisconsin Commit [player_tooltip player_id="57168" first="Austin" last="Brown"] and [player_tooltip player_id="182016" first="Corbin" last="Hickey"] will lead the Indians against an undefeated Mater Dei team on the road. 2022 QB Bryce Revermann and 2022 WR Cameron Haag are high-powered tandem who will put this excellent defense to the test. <strong>(6) Nashville (9-1) at (3) </strong>Bismarck (B.-Henning-Rossville-Alvin) (10-0) Nashville, a six seed at 9-1, faces off against an undefeated Bismark and  2022 QB Kolten Gajewski looks to hand them their first loss of the season. The Hornets have playoff experience and have played in these games before they can pull the win out on the road, without a doubt. <h5>Class 1A</h5> (6) <strong>Sesser (S.-Valier) [Coop] (8-2) at </strong>(3) Athens (9-1) Sesser has had a great season, but this game will be an uphill battle. 2023 RB/DB/KR Brock Chelf looks to continue his incredible season by winning on the road against a potent three-seed in Athens. <hr /> Next week we are bringing you Round 3 Previews of the Southern Illinois matchups with some predictions.