ALTON – Marquette Catholic is back in the IHSA football playoffs.
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The Explorers, who finished the year 6-3 overall, 6-1 in the Prairie State Conference, will have a formidable task awaiting them when they travel to Rochester, who finished the year 8-1 overall and in the Central State Eight conference, for a 1:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff in the Class 4A playoffs.
The Rockets, who got the No. 4 seed in the Southern Illinois half of the 32-team bracket, has much going for it; they only lost their last regular-season game, a CSE showdown with Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin they dropped 53-34.
“They play a tough schedule in their conference,” said Marquette coach Darrell Angleton. “They were tied with Carterville, but Carterville got the third seed (on a tiebreaker). There's no doubt they're absolutely the best fourth seed you'll see.
“It's a tough draw for us, no doubt. They've won the last two Class 4A championships and they don't make many mistakes. They have a very face-paced offense; they can get a lot of plays off quickly. Once the defense is on the field, they move so fast, you can't sub out or slow the pace down. They play at a very quick pace; hats off to them, they do it very well.”
The Explorers are hoping to, when they have the ball, slow the pace down and use every second of the 25-second play clock they can. “We've got to execute, get first downs and use as much of the clock as we can,” Angleton said. “We'll need to keep the ball away from their offense as much as we can.”
The Explorers, despite this being their playoff opener, are taking the approach that Saturday's game isn't necessarily bigger than the ones they've played all year. “We'll execute and do the things we do best, play our game,” Angleton said. “Our work is cut out for us, no doubt; we'll need to keep moving the chains and minimize our mistakes.
“The weather may be wet Saturday (forecasts are calling for rain), so that may slow them down a bit. Still, I have to take my hat off to the kids; they've remained focused and have been working on what we'll need to do.”
