Considering what might have been

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On this semifinal week in the state high school football playoffs, the positive thought is our area has a good chance to boast two winners, two teams advancing to next weekend's state championships in Champaign.

Providence will visit Danville at 3 p.m. Saturday, the survivor moving on to the Class 6A final. Joliet Catholic will visit Peoria Richwoods at 1 p.m. Saturday, that winner earning a berth in the 5A title game.

The two local private-school powers have accumulated 22 state football titles through the years, with JCA claiming 13 and Providence nine. We are maintaining hope that number will grow in 2009.

But as gratifying as it would be to have both teams playing for state titles, there is another thought that comes to mind. As the playoffs wind down, our area could have had even more representation on the big stage.

The playoffs, of course, are the highlight of every season. Who would not want to follow a single-elimination tournament, with a majority of the teams involved being high-quality?

But if the single-elimination aspect makes it fun, it also makes it hurt.

Before the playoffs began, we talked of having at least one championship contender in every class from 3A through 8A. That only Providence and JCA remain standing from our area is disappointing.

I say that not as knock on any of our teams that were eliminated. They were beaten by quality opponents that happened to be a little better on that day.

Rather, I bring that up because we did have several teams capable of going a long way in the playoffs, and for one reason or another, their run ended earlier than it could have or should have.

For example, Wilmington lost to Carthage Illini West 43-41 in overtime in last week's 3A quarterfinal.

Carthage is a traditional small-school power, and this year's team had been steamrolling everyone before Wilmington came calling.

Most observers I talked to said Illini West was too strong; I have a feeling they had not seen enough of Wilmington. I thought the Wildcats would win, and when you look at some of the stats -- offensive plays, time of possession, turnovers -- you wonder how it did not happen.

The obvious reason, of course, is all the big plays Illini West made. Still, when your opponent ricochets the tying extra point through the goal post with about a minute left and then beats you in overtime, well, sometime it just wasn't meant to be.

But don't think for a minute Wilmington could not have gone on to win it all had that game not ended differently.

Minooka enjoyed a banner season. The Indians may or may not have been state championship material, but they had to play at East St. Louis at exactly the wrong time -- in Round 2 of Class 6A, a week after the sleeping giant was awakened by the Bradley-Bourbonnais scare.

At that, a fortunate bounce that went East St. Louis' way helped seal Minooka's fate. Without the bounce, the game may have played out differently than the one that ended 48-20.

Lemont had been to the 6A title game the last two years and was strong again this season, probably better than most observers thought. The Indians got off to a 14-0 lead last week at Danville before it slipped away in an 18-14 quarterfinal loss.

Honestly, I thought Lemont's run would end in the semifinal round at Providence, although that one would have been a great matchup. The Indians just about got there, and if they had, they would have proved a worthy semifinalist.

Of course, we had Lincoln-Way East in 7A and Bolingbrook in 8A. Two very good teams that met with unfortunate finishes in the playoffs.

Lincoln-Way East traveled to O'Fallon in Week 2 and was beaten 17-16 by the turnover bug. Without that misfortune, the Griffins win that game and set up a meeting in Frankfort with East St. Louis in the quarterfinals.

You might say East would not have beaten East St. Louis anyway, but I am not so sure. That would have been quite a battle, and the winner would have been a tough out the rest of the way.

Bolingbrook had a 19-7 fourth-quarter lead over Downers Grove South, but the Mustangs rallied to win 22-19. Credit goes to Downers South for the comeback. Bolingbrook did not blow it.

But if you live in the 8A neighborhood, that is the nature of the playoffs. Every opponent is so capable of coming up with a big game, and every opponent is so physical, that anybody can beat anybody on a given day.

That this Bolingbrook team did not advance beyond the second round is a shame because the Raiders may have been good enough to go the distance. The problem in 8A is, many of the teams in the 32-team field legitimately could say the same thing.

So here's hoping Providence and JCA get their victories Saturday and win state championships the following weekend. They will have an opportunity to add a couple more feathers to our area cap.

Even it that happens, however, I have a feeling I will be at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on the Saturday after Thanksgiving thinking about a few of our other teams that perhaps could have been there. This was a year when if things had broken our way, we could have had 4-5 teams playing for state titles.

Maybe next year, when our contenders will include some of the usual suspects, perhaps Minooka and Lockport as well, and maybe one or two others.

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