CARROLLTON – Carrollton plays their third straight playoff game at home, going against Athens in Class 1A, while East St. Louis hits the road to play Lemont in Class 6A as the IHSA football playoffs take place on Saturday.
The Hawks, now 10-1, will meet Athens, also 10-1, at Carrollton’s stadium in a 1 p.m kickoff, while the Flyers, 9-2, play at Lemont, currently 11-0, in their game that kicks off at 2:30 p.m.
Carrollton reached the quarterfinals with a 47-7 win over Shelbyville in the first round on Oct. 30, then got by Greenfield Northwestern in a Western Illinois Valley Conference showdown in the second round 14-6 last Saturday. The Warriors won their opener over Macon Meridian 42-14, then took their second-round game over Sesser-Valier 55-28 to advance to today’s quarterfinal.
Quarterback Grant Pohlman and running back Harley Angel are the two key players for the Hawks. Pohlman has ran for 1,137 yards and 20 touchdowns on the season, while Angel has added 1,041 yards on the ground with 22 touchdowns. Pohlman is 92-of-155 passing for 1,512 yards and 19 touchdowns, and has at his disposal a very good receiving duo in Kyle Leonard and Gus Coonrod. who have combined for 17 touchdown catches.
The Flyers have reached the quarterfinals with two straight shutout wins at home at Clyde C. Jordan Memorial Stadium, defeating Riverside-Brookfield 66 – 0 in the first round, then winning over Oak Lawn Richards 54-0 last week in the second round. Lemont won their first round game over Chicago Kennedy 45-0, then defeated Springfield 72-36, one week after the Senators won over Rock Island 94-72 in one of the wildest games in IHSA football history.
East Side is led by sophomore quarterback Robert “Pops” Battle, who’s 144-of-220 passing for 2,172 yards and 21 touchdowns, while running for 245 yards and six touchdowns. Running backs Ali Wells and Ty Martin provide a one-two punch on the ground, with Wells running for 518 yards and eight touchdowns, and Martin adding 512 yards and 11 touchdowns. Missouri-bound wide receiver Luther Burden III has caught 54 passes for 865 yards and 17 touchdowns, while Kuron Parchman has caught 22 balls for 418 yards and three scores.
The Athens-Carrollton winner will play in the semifinals against the winner of Moweaqua Central A&M and Arcola next weekend, while the East Side-Lemont winner meets the winner of Crete-Monee and Washington in their semifinal game. The sites, dates and kickoff times will be announced by the IHSA office Monday afternoon, with the state finals set for Nov. 26-27 at Huskie Stadium at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
