The potential for distraction is high. So is the potential for some spectacular to happen. With that in mind, the Quincy High School football players weren’t going to let any shenanigans go on Friday night at the hotel to ruin their chances in today’s Class 6A first-round playoff matchup with Chicago Morgan Park.

Courtesy Illinois Helmet Project

“We’re here for business,” senior fullback D.J. Powell said. “We ain’t here for fun.”

There’s potential for fun if the Blue Devils pull off the upset. For Quincy (7-2) to potentially come home for a second-round game, a lot has to go right. Here are three keys that could determine if the season of dreams continues:

1. Churn, baby, churn

Morgan Park has an explosive offense, with lots of speed and lots of athletes. How do you control that? Keep them on the sideline. Quincy needs to have exhaustive drives, the kind that last six, seven, even eight minutes. If the Blue Devils can pick up 3 or 4 yards a play and methodically move the chains, they might just frustrate the Mustangs.

“It’s a good matchup from the standpoint what we do they may not like,” Little said. “They want the ball quick and we try to go on long drives. We’re not going to get into a toe-to-toe matchup and try to duke it out. We’re going to do what we do and try to hang onto the football as long as we can.”

2. Take away big plays

The Blue Devils have not been beaten by the big play this season, and it’s critical the defense continues to be sound and forces Morgan Park to beat it with a methodical drive. It’s a simple philosophy that has led to Quincy’s defensive success — everyone flows to the ball.

“It’s how we all try to get there, every hat on the ball every play,” said senior linebacker Reed Cox, who leads the Blue Devils with 78 tackles. “It’s about trying to beat the other guy there basically.”

3. Ignore the skeptics

At the end of practice Thursday, Little made a simple request. If you don’t believe, don’t make the trip. In essence, he wanted to find out if any of the Blue Devils were listening to the skeptics who think Morgan Park is an overwhelming favorite or those who say Quincy has the toughest first-round draw of any opponent. He found out the Blue Devils believe they are as good as advertised and can complete with a Chicago Public League team.

“We play to win,” Powell said. “We feel like we’re going to win every game. We haven;t gone into one game yet thinking we were going to lose. This isn’t any different. It’s a playoff game, but we have the same attitude.”

In 18 years coaching football at Quincy Notre Dame, Bill Connell can’t remember waking up on game day and thinking his team had its back up against a wall and success was a long shot.

Courtesy Illinois Helmet Project

If he ever did, the second-round playoff game against Harrisburg in 1997 would have been that day. The Bulldogs were a juggernaut, beating QND 43-6 on its own field and completely annihilating the Raiders with a bruising running game.

The Bulldogs still run the ball religiously, and they’ll come in with an air of toughness. The difference is this QND team has the swagger of a state contender, not one still trying to establish itself as a perennial playoff team. The Raiders’ confidence could very well be the difference.

Here are three keys that could push QND into the second round:

1. Hit ’em high, hit ’em low

The Raiders need to stack up Harrisburg fullback Dawson Montfort at the point of attack and not allow him to get a head of steam. He’s a powerful runner with a 6-foot-1, 220-pound suitable for putting linebackers on their rears. If the Raiders get to him in the backfield and stop him at the line of scrimmage, it neutralizes his power.

“We’ve done a good job of forcing teams t do things they weren’t comfortable with, forcing teams out of their game plans,” Connell said. “If we can stop the big boy up front and stop the speedsters to the outside, we can force them into doing some things they might not want to do.”

2. Keep it spread out

Kramer Barnes is growing more and more comfortable after returning from a dislocated elbow. He has the controls to this offense for a reason — he understands it completely. He needs to continue to find different receivers, look for openings on simple slants and work the defense over from sideline to sideline. He’ll get help in the backfield from Daniel Weiman, the 1,000-yard back has a track record for big performances in the playoffs.

“We just have to come out an execute,” said Andrew Juette, a senior cornerback and kick returner. “We know our plays inside and out. We know what we want to do. We’re going to come out and play like there is no tomorrow, just play every play like it could be your last.”

3. Use the home-field advantage

The QND field likely will be soupy and soggy because of the high volume of rain the area has been hit with, but it is still the same field this team has gotten used to running on. The conditions might dictate how each team attacks, but the Raiders will get a definite lift from the crowd. Plus, QND doesn’t have to trav el four-plus hours on a bus. A good night’s sleep does a body good.

It’s a question that has been posed to me several times this week.

Who are you rooting for: The Yankees or the Phillies?

The Phillies, of course. Why? That’s easy. They’re the National League representative. I root for the NL team every year in the World Series, not just because that’s the league my favorite team plays in. It’s because I appreciate the NL style of play more … and I despise the designated hitter.

A question regarding the Quincy High School football team’s place in the Class 6A playoffs was raised this week by the Moline Dispatch’s Steve Tappa and several football fans around the region.

Their point of contention was the Illinois High School Association has the wrong enrollment figure for Quincy and the Blue Devils should actually be in Class 7A, just as they were in 2003.

But that’s not true.

According to the IHSA, Quincy has an enrollment of 1,899. That’s on the upper end of the Class 6A bracket, but it doesn’t make Quincy the largest school in the class. That honor goes to Huntley with an enrollment of 1,967.

So how did the IHSA come up with Quincy’s enrollment?

According to the guidelines spelled out by the IHSA, it takes the enrollment figures directly from the Illinois State Board of Education’s Fall Housing Report, which is a breakdown of attendance at each school on Sept. 30. To determine enrollment for the 2009-10 school year, the IHSA uses figures from Sept. 30, 2008.

The enrollments are then adjusted, based on variances and levelers, some of which have been in place since 1972. The levelers are used for schools that are gender specific or house only two or three classes.

To read a full explanation on IHSA enrollments and classification, click here.

Although Quincy houses only three classes in its building, it does allow freshmen to play varsity athletics if deemed capable. Thus, the freshman enrollment numbers at Quincy Junior High School have to be used in figuring Quincy’s enrollment.

So is 1,899 the right figure for Quincy?

It appears so. According to the ISBE numbers, which can be found on the group’s Web site at www.isbe.state.il.us, Quincy’s class-by-class breakdown on Sept. 30, 2008, went like this:

Freshman — 494

Sophomore — 478

Junior — 448

Senior — 434

Those numbers add up 1,854, but it does not include students who part of the Quincy Public School system but are not housed in the high school or junior high buildings. Those students drive the actual enrollment up to 1,899.

To see ISBE’s Fall Housing Report, click here and download the Excel spreadsheet from the organization’s Web site.

The Quincy High School football team’s return to the playoffs will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday at Gately Stadium in Chicago against Chicago Morgan Park. The Illinois High School Association helped work out a compromise after the schools couldn’t come to an agreement on the game time.

Meanwhile, Quincy Notre Dame will play host to Harrisburg at 2 p.m. Saturday.

It’s been more than a decade since the Harrisburg football team last walked onto the field at Quincy Notre Dame and delivered a shellacking, beating the Raiders 43-6 in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.

Courtesy Illinois Helmet Project

The Bulldogs return to the Gem City this Saturday, facing the Raiders in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs. And forget the adage “time changes everything.” Harrisburg is still a run-right-over-you program.

With that in mind, here’s some things to keep your eyes on:

• Harrisburg lost three of its first four games, then closed the season with a five-game winning streak. During that stretch, the Bulldogs averaged 41.2 points.

Included in that streak was a 21-7 victory over Class 5A Carbondale, which has the unenviable task of opening the playoffs against Class 5A’s No. 1-ranked team — Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.

Still, beating a playoff-bound Class 5A school gives Harrisburg confidence.

“We played a 5A school that I thought was very physical and fast, which made our kids play at a speed that helped us prepare for this game,” Harrisburg coach Jason Roper told the Southern Illinoisan.

• Dawson Monfort is the Bulldogs’ bruising back, having gained 1,083 yards and scored 20 touchdowns on the ground. Although he is not the fastest back on the team — that honor goes to John David Rollins — Montfort does have pretty good speed. A 95-yard touchdown run against Benton proved that.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior had 219 yards on just six carries against Benton.

To learn more about Montfort, check out this interview he did with the Harrisburg Daily Ledger.

• John David Rollins is a weapon on special teams. In a 48-8 victory on the road against West Frankfort, Rollins returned punts 52 and 45 yards for touchdowns. He also returned a punt 78 yards for a score against DuQuoin.

He also scored on an 86-yard run against Benton.

• The Bulldogs are solid on the gridiron, but they look to be dynamite on the diamond.

Four of the Harrisburg football players are receiving NCAA Division I recruiting interest in baseball, and two have already committed. Reid Roper, the team’s starting quarterback, is headed to the University of Illinois to play shortstop, while Kollin Dowdy is expected to be a center fielder at Southern Illinois University.

Montfort, a first baseman, and Noah King, a catcher, are also D-I baseball prospects.

Quincy High School’s return to the state football playoffs means a trip to Chicago and a matchup with Morgan Park on Saturday at Gately Stadium, the municipal stadium used for Chicago Public League games.

Courtesy Illinois Helmet Project

The matchup surprised the Quincy coaching staff and the Blue Devils, mainly because of the long trip (it’s 302 miles from Quincy High School to Morgan Park High School according to MapQuest) and the unfamiliarity with the Mustangs.

So here are some tidbits that should get QHS fans more familiar with a talented first-round opponent:

• Morgan Park is ranked 16th in a poll of Chicagoland’s best prep teams, according to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Steve Tucker.

• The Mustangs won the Public League’s Illinois Prairie State division title in gutsy fashion. Morgan Park scored with 21 seconds remaining in regulation to pull within 33-32 of Chicago Hubbard. DeVontre Spears, who had scored the touchdown, then ran in the two-point conversion for a 34-33 victory.

It isn’t the first time Mustangs coach Lexie Spurlock has made a gutsy call in a tight situation.

Last year, after scoring with 52 seconds left against highly-touted Chicago Simeon, Morgan Park lined up to kick the tying extra points. However, what appeared to be a botched play wound up an ingenuitive two-point conversion as the holder placed the ball on the tee, only to have the kicker pick it up and run in for the conversion and 29-28 victory.

• Keep your eyes on DaRon Brown, Morgan Park’s senior quarterback who is one of the top athletes in the Public League. Through eight games, Brown had racked up 925 yards rushing with 13 touchdowns and 550 yards passing with seven TDs. He was a 2008 Sun-Times all-area selection and All-Public League pick.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Brown has received recruiting interest from several NCA Division I schools, including a scholarship offer from Northern Illinois. He’s viewed by recruiters as more of an athlete than a quarterback. As a junior, Brown played wide receiver, scoring four touchdowns against Hubbard, four against Chicago Richards and five against Chicago Robeson.

“He’s got a cool head, and those leadership qualities help him keep his cool during times when other kids might get too excited,” Morgan Park coach Lexie Spurlock told the Chicago Tribune. “In addition to being a highly intelligent young man, he can make something explosive happen at any moment. He can have a busted play and make it look like a miracle.”

To see highlights of Brown, check out his video profile on YouTube.

• Spears is also a weapon. Through eight games, he has rushed for 890 yards and 11 touchdowns, while averaging 11 yards per carry. On defense, the Mustangs have one of the best defensive backs in the Public League in junior safety Brian Jones.

Sometimes, your brain cramps up.

That’s the only way I can explain my error in the preview of the Quincy High School-Chatham Glenwood football game, scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Chatham Glenwood.

With the Blue Devils having qualified for the playoffs and hoping to secure a first-round home playoff game, I wrote that Quincy has never hosted a playoff game.

I was wrong.

In 1986, when Quincy went 7-2 and qualified for its second postseason appearance in school history, the Blue Devils played host to Granite City at Flinn Stadium. The Warriors won 28-22, ending what had been a dream season for QHS.

Quincy’s two other playoff appearances — 1974 and 2003 — ended with trips to East St. Louis and first-round losses.

Last spring, when Peoria School District 150 began discussing plans to close one high school, the topic of conference mergers surfaced in athletic circles.

Would this finally be the time the Western Big Six Conference and the Mid-State Six Conference finally came together?

A topic that has long intrigued fans, especially those of boys basketball, simmered out when District 150 made no decisions about the future of its schools. However, District 150 ultimately made a move this fall, deciding to close Woodruff High School at the end of the 2009-10 school year. And again, the talk of a WB6-MS6 merger is surfacing.

Right now, it’s only talk. No meetings between representatives from the conferences have been scheduled, but conversations have taken place. And athletic directors appear to be giving the idea some credence.

According to a story by Zack Creglow in the Galesburg Register-Mail (click here to read the entire story), Galesburg AD Ralph Henning believes the possibility of a merger or some sort of scheduling agreement “now has legs.”

“We haven’t set up anything formal to talk at all but the principals wanted input from the ADs about our concerns about different sports,” Henning told Creglow.

On Wednesday, Quincy AD Bill Sanders said everything is speculative right now.

“It’s a lot of talk,” Sanders said. “That’s about it.”

The talk started with a phone call from the assistant principal at Peoria Richwoods to East Moline AD Mike Tracey, according to a story by Daniel Makarewicz in the Moline Dispatch.

Tracey said, “I think it’s definitely going to be talked about. Where it goes from there, it’s anybody’s guess. It’s intriguing.”

Representatives of the MS6 schools are scheduled to meet Friday in Peoria to discuss the conference’s future. After that meeting, further discussions between the two conferences could take place.

Click here to read Makarewicz’s complete story.

A merger of any sort won’t take place until after the 2010-11 school year.

According to official Western Big Six Conference statistics compiled by Marc Nesseler and Daniel Makarewicz of the Moline Dispatch, the Quincy High School football team ended up leading the league in several categories, including rushing offense and defense, scoring offense and total defense.

Here are the stats:

Team Statistics (league games only)

Total offense
Yds        Avg
Rock Island    1,531    306.2
Quincy             1,474    294.8
Moline             1,316    263.2
Galesburg       1,118    223.6
East Moline   1,045    209.0
Alleman             846    169.2

Rushing offense
Yds         Avg
Quincy             1,341     262.8
Rock Island    1,236     247.2
Galesburg           936     187.2
East Moline       908     181.6
Alleman              708     141.6
Moline                 704     140.8

Passing offense
Yds    Avg
Moline              588    117.6
Rock Island     295    59.0
Galesburg         172    34.4
Quincy               160    32.0
Alleman            138    27.6
East Moline      137    27.4

Scoring offense
Pts       Avg
Quincy               154     30.8
Rock Island      141     28.2
Moline               100    20.0
Alleman              74     14.8
Galesburg           60     12.0
East Moline       56      11.2

Total defense
Yds        Avg
Quincy                   945    189.0
Rock Island      1,024    204.8
Alleman             1,060    212.0
Galesburg          1,148    229.6
Moline               1,509    301.8
East Moline      1,750    350.0

Rushing defense
Yds         Avg
Quincy                 593      118.6
Alleman              865      173.0
Rock Island       788      157.6
Galesburg           988      197.6
Moline              1,294     258.8
East Moline     1,378     275.6

Passing defense
Yds        Avg
Galesburg           160      32.0
Alleman              195      39.0
Moline                 215      43.0
Rock Island       236       47.2
Quincy                 352      70.4
East Moline        366      73.2

Scoring defense
Pts      Avg
Alleman                49        9.8
Rock Island         64      12.8
Quincy                  80      16.0
Galesburg           102     20.4
Moline                 111      22.2
East Moline        171     34.2

Individual Statistics (league games only)

Rushing
Att-Yds                 Avg
D.J. Powell, QHS            80-608        16-121.6
Chris Glover, RI                52-496      10.4-99.2
Alex McNay, QHS            54-447      10.8-89.4
C. Ollman, GB                   63-440      12.6-88.0
Nikko Watson, RI           72-387       14.4-77.4
Devin Miller, EM             50-346          10-69.2

Passing
Yds           Avg
Mikel Wismer, Moline          605        121.0
Chris Suhr, RI                          295          59.0
Mitch Marold, QHS               160          32.0
Tim Boland, Alleman            138          27.6
Chase Pavelonis, EM             137          27.4
Andrew Steck, GB                      91          18.2

Receiving
Rec-Yds               Avg
Nick Krantz, Moline              16-231      3.2-46.2
Justin O’Brien, Moline         13-179      2.6-35.8
Sam Douglas, RI                         5-97      1.0-19.4
Dave Parkins, Moline               7-84       1.4-16.8
Nate Olin, GB                               4-81      0.8-16.2
Justin Davidson, GB                  3-47        0.6-9.4

Scoring
TD-Pts    Avg
Chris Glover, RI                 8-48    1.6-9.6
Nick Krantz, Moline         7-42    1.4-8.4
D.J. Powell, QHS              7-42    1.4-8.4
Alex McNay, QHS             5-30    1.0-6.0
G.W. Scott, QHS                4-24    0.8-4.8
Justin Davidson, GB         4-24    0.8-4.8