The second round of the Class 8A playoffs produces a matchup of two teams that played for the Mid-Suburban League West Division title just two weeks ago as the 8-2 Schaumburg Saxons face the 9-1 Palatine Pirates on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Class 8A Game of the Week. Palatine beat Schaumburg 51-18 in Week 9 to clinch the divisional title.
The sixth-seeded Saxons reached this game with a 42-7 win over Glenbrook South in the first round. Stacey Smith hit Cole Reyes for all three of his completions, which all went for touchdowns in the win. Reyes finished with over 120 yards receiving while Smith added over 75 rushing yards and a touchdown for Schaumburg. Schaumburg is averaging over 31 points a game while giving up just over 17 points per contest.
The 3rd-seeded Pirates scored the most points ever for one team in Class 8A history during a 69-42 win against Niles West, breaking the old record of 62 points. Ethan Oiles threw for nearly 300 yards and three touchdowns while Ryan Gronwick and Tommy Williams each had two touchdowns for Palatine in the shootout. The Pirates are averaging over 44 points per game while giving up 20 points a game and have won nine straight games.
When these two teams played in the final week of the regular season, Oiles passed for over 310 yards and Palatine opened up a 28-0 lead by halftime. Schaumburg can’t allow that to happen again on the road to have any chance in this game. Palatine has been rolling along in recent weeks and I don’t see how the Saxons can slow down the Palatine attack. I think this could turn into a rout by early in the second half. I’ll take Palatine 42-20.
