Tigers playoff trek turns towards Wilmington

By Chris Johnson

Sports Correspondent

An amazing glimpse at the remaining field in the upper bracket of the 2016 Class 3A State Tournament should bring a sense of realized accomplishment for Byron Tigers’ faithful. Following a 44-14 win over 12-seed Eureka in the opening round of the football playoffs, the Tigers moved to 10-0 on the year and directly into the path of the 10-0 Wilmington Wildcats.

Byron scored first, and did so frequently in the first half of play, while Eureka was shutdown. With 8:03 to go in the opening period, Byron got on the board. The missed extra point kick issued the Tigers the 6-0 edge. A little over four minutes later, Byron was on the board again. Trevor Koritz powered over tacklers as he split between his linemen and into the end zone for the three-yard score. Byron went for two. Keller was successful. The Tigers held the 14-0 lead after the first quarter of play.

In the second quarter Koritz scored again. Inside pounding led to a yielding wall of Eureka defenders. The one-yard push propelled the lead to 21-0 with 8:22 to go before the half. Keller pushed the Tiger’s lead to 28-0 after he found room and made it in from seven-yards out with 4:40 to go in the first half. The kick was good. Byron added a 32-yard Koritz field goal as time wound down in the second quarter. At the break, the five-seed was in front 31-0.

Eureka scored twice in the third quarter but could not figure out the Byron defense after that. The Tigers added a Koritz 27-yard run in the third quarter and closed the scoring on a Justin Martinez two-yard run in the fourth. Byron took the game 44-14 and set their sights on eastern Illinois and this weekend’s match with the Wildcats. The five-seed had a round draw to start the tournament, but could find things a little easier going, schedule-wise, as the 3A Tournament continues.

When the tournament began, the IHSA Selection Committee issued the Byron Tigers the number-five seed in the upper branch of the Class 3A bracket. The perfect 9-0 mark matched that thrown up by six of 16 teams included in the Semi-Final fill-in section. Of those six who began the upper round of 16, six moved into the second round. Byron was one of those and faces another.

Immaculate Conception leads the way. They have home field advantage throughout the head-to-head hosting-portion of the playoff plan. They were given the overall number-one seed position. They will host all games until someone who failed to host the previous week runs into them. The Farmington Farmers were issued the two-seed followed by Westville at three. Wilmington got the four. Since Byron was given the five-seed, they have the duty to head out on the road this weekend, since Wilmington also hosted last week. However they are the higher seed. They earned the right to host Byron in round two.

The scenario does set up for a home game in the Class 3A Quarterfinal for Byron, if they can take out Wilmington this weekend. Byron would host either eight-seed Paxton-Buckley-Loda or number-one seed Immaculate Conception. Byron’s advantage to be on the road this week is intensified with a possible trip to the Semi-Final waiting to be won at home.

6221: Michael Criscione looks for a hole in the Eureka defense during the second half of the IHSA Class 3A playoff game in Byron Saturday, Oct. 29. The Tigers won the game 44-14 and will face Wilmington Saturday.