Nobody said getting to state finals would be easy

The road to Champaign and the football state finals later this month looks especially tough in Class 6A.

Take Richards. Coach Tony Sheehan's Bulldogs finished the regular season 8-1 and were rewarded with a first-round road game at Rock Island. After a 22-16 victory, the Bulldogs host unbeaten Danville.

ROAD WARRIORS: Wheaton Academy won its Class 5A playoff opener at Hillcrest and will hit the road to play Sycamore. So what happened to the Illinois High School Association's plan to reduce travel in the early rounds?

Quincy came to Gately Stadium to play Morgan Park. This week, Joliet Catholic (at Cahokia in 5A) and Lincoln-Way East (at O'Fallon in 7A) go to the St. Louis area.

QB DREAMING: Morgan Park quarterback DaRon Brown said he finally is getting comfortable as the Mustangs' quarterback after moving from receiver.

''My big dream is still a state championship,'' Brown said. ''Nothing would be better than being the Public League's first.''

2,000-YARD CLUB: Former East Leyden coach Jack Leese, who guided his team to a state championship in 1977, is touting Leyden running back Angel Maldonado for All-Area and All-State recognition.

''This guy can run. He is also very tough and durable,'' Leese said.

Maldonado, a 5-10, 215-pound senior who has scholarship offers from Ball State and Toledo, has led Leyden to an 8-2 record and a playoff match with top-ranked Maine South in Class 8A. He has rushed 287 times for 2,241 yards and 25 touchdowns.

''We didn't push him in the offseason because we didn't know how his speed would develop,'' Leyden coach Tom Cerasani said. ''But he is the strongest player on our team, and he worked so hard to get his speed down to 4.5.''

STAYING HOME: Luke Lenti, the leading player on Maine South's sophomore team who moved up to the varsity for the state playoffs and started at linebacker in the 28-14 first-round victory over Oak Park, considered transferring to Mount Carmel after his freshman year but didn't because he ''wanted to stay with my friends.'' Luke is a nephew of Mount Carmel coach Frank Lenti.

TOMMY BOY: Lake Forest quarterback Tommy Rees, a Notre Dame recruit, might not have led his team into the state playoffs, but he still had an impressive senior season. Rees completed 215 of 308 passes for 2,625 yards and 24 touchdowns. He threw 12 interceptions and had one rushing touchdown.

''It's unfortunate that a player like him is not in the playoffs,'' Scouts coach Chuck Spagnoli said. ''We saw all different types of defenses this year. We saw plenty of blitzes ... They all tried to stop Tommy.''

Contributing: Taylor Bell, Adam L. Jahns