QND, Macomb to renew rivalry in opening round of Class 4A football playoffs

QUINCY — When the team bus rolled into the Quincy Notre Dame parking lot at around 7 p.m. Saturday, Raiders football coach Jack Cornell didn’t know which road his team would be taking in the postseason.

As soon as Cornell knew, he told the players he’d spread the word.

But there was a more important message he wanted them to hear.

“The energy on our bus on the way home today was great,” Cornell said after the Raiders earned a playoff berth with a 40-7 victory against John Burroughs in Ladue, Mo. “I told the team we want to be feeling the same way again next week.”

The task in achieving that is no different. It’s win or go home.

The opponent is quite different, yet familiar in many regards.

The Illinois High School Association revealed the football playoff pairings for all eight classes during its traditional television broadcast Saturday night, which is when the 14th-seeded Raiders (5-4) learned they will travel to third-seeded Macomb (9-0) for a Class 4A first-round playoff game.

The game will be at 7 p.m. next Saturday at the Macomb high school field.

“I think there was excitement when we saw the bracket,” said Macomb coach Tanner Horrell, who gathered with his team to watch the IHSA playoff show. “QND is a team you’re always looking at from afar, comparing and seeing what they’re doing. To get the opportunity to go up against them, our guys are pretty stoked about it.”

Quincy High School also will start its postseason on the road, drawing a trip to Chatham Glenwood in the Class 6A first round. The ninth-seeded Blue Devils (7-2) and eighth-seeded Titans (7-2) will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“Chatham is a program we have a ton of respect for,” QHS coach Rick Little said. “We play them in the junior high levels, so there’s some familiarity with them. We played some 7-on-7 against them this summer. So the guys are excited. The guys are excited for the opportunity.”

QND and Macomb have a long history, including meeting in the playoffs twice. The Raiders won 48-0 in the Class 4A first round in 2005, while the Bombers won 21-19 in the Class 4A first round in 2012.

Horrell played on Macomb’s 2005 team as a sophomore and went 0-4 against QND in three varsity seasons.

“We were on the short end of the stick when I played,” Horrell said.

Times have changed. The Bombers enjoyed the fourth undefeated regular season in program history this fall and can set the school record for single-season victories by beating the Raiders.

“It’s all about preparing yourself and being ready to play on Saturday night,” Horrell said. “You have to take care of yourself and focus on your assignments. We’re both going to know what each other wants to do, so it’s about going out and executing.”

Cornell, who went 4-0 against Macomb in his playing days at QND, echoed that.

“We have to do all the work and keep going at it the same way we’ve been doing,” Cornell said. “We have to try to keep getting better and play our best game.”

Macomb isn’t the only are program to earn a first-round home game. Nor is it the only one seeing a familiar face.

In Class 1A, Central (9-0) drew the second seed in the south bracket and will face 15th-seeded Dupo (5-4) at home. A potential second-round rematch awaits if Moweaqua Central A&M can get past Sesser Vallier. Moweaqua Central A&M eliminated Central in the second round last season with a 28-6 victory.

Brown County (5-4) drew the 13th seed and will travel to fourth-seeded Tuscola (7-2). The Hornets have lost to Tuscola four times in the postseason since 2009, including back-to-back years in the state semifinals in 2010 and 2011.

In Class 2A, Unity-Payson (6-3) is the 10th seed in the northern bracket and will face seventh-seeded Knoxville (7-2) in the first round.