Best First Round Match-ups in Illinois on Saturday

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mt Vernon at Highland </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mt Vernon will make the short trip over to Highland on Saturday as they enter the playoffs at 6-3. Last year they ended their playoff drought but this year they are looking to make a run. They have been lead all season with big plays by senior running-back [player_tooltip player_id='153820' first='Navontae' last='Nesbit']. Highland ended the regular season with an impressive 8-1 record with their only loss coming in Week 2 to Mahomet-Seymour. Highland plays a physical brand of football is going to look to run the ball early and often on Saturday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players (Mt Vernon): 2024 RB [player_tooltip player_id='153820' first='Navontae' last='Nesbit'], 2024 WR Mylan Nettles, 2024 LB [player_tooltip player_id='153790' first='Jhymear' last='Smith-Henson']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players (Highland): 2024 OL/DL Chase Pacatte, 2026 QB Blake Gelly, 2024 WR Dylan Beadle</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Highland will have to find ways to limit [player_tooltip player_id='153820' first='Navontae' last='Nesbit']'s impact on the game. Last week he found ways to score on offense, defense and special teams. From top to bottom Highland has a deeper roster and with the luxury of having home field advantage, I like the bulldogs to take this one and move onto round 2. Prediction: <em>Highland</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tolono Unity at Williamsville </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These teams are about as evenly matched as you'll find. This will be the battle between the 7-2 teams as they both enter this game with the same record. Williamsville has been rolling on offense as of late with their senior lead group. Tolono also has a strong offense with a Quarterback that will be making his first playoff appearance as a sophomore. This game will definitely be the one to circle on Saturday as it should be a close game that comes down to the wire. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players (Tolono Unity): 2026 QB [player_tooltip player_id='1001161' first='Dane' last='Eisenmenger'], 2024 WR Jay Saunders, 2024 RB Eric Miebach</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players (Williamsville): 2024 WR Mason Lyttaker, 2024 QB Josh Cates, 2025 RB Braddock Cates</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Williamsville looks to have a slight upper hand in this matchup. They have played some tougher teams to this point as well as having a senior led team with more experience. Prediction: <em>Williamsville</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Geneseo at IC Catholic Prep</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Geneseo travels to take on IC Prep on Saturday at 4:00pm. Geneseo has been on a two game slide recently losing to Quincy and Rock Island the last two weeks of the regular season. They will look to turn that around and get an opening round upset win today. Geneseo's offense relies on establishing the run game to open up the pass. IC Prep is entering this game with a lot of momentum going 7-2 in a tough Chicago Catholic League. IC Prep has a whole host of weapons on offense including 4-star TE [player_tooltip player_id='271315' first='Eric' last='Karner']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players (Geneseo): 2024 TE [player_tooltip player_id='161210' first='Luke' last='Johnsen'], 2024 Caleb Craterfield, 2024 [player_tooltip player_id='271887' first='Josh' last='Steines']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players (IC Catholic Prep): 2024 TE [player_tooltip player_id='271315' first='Eric' last='Karner'], 2024 DB [player_tooltip player_id='161322' first='KJ' last='Parker'], 2025 LB [player_tooltip player_id='830241' first='Dominik' last='Hulak']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Geneseo will look to control the ball with their run game and play keep away from a talented IC Prep offense. However, IC Prep seems to be too talented for Geneseo to get the upset. IC Prep will control most of this game and put pressure on Geneseo early. Prediction: <em>IC Prep </em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->