Nov. 20--With only one losing season in the last nine and three trips to the state quarterfinals since 2010, Palatine goes into most games feeling pretty good about its chances.
But Saturday's Class 8A semifinal matchup with top-ranked and unbeaten Loyola marks the third straight playoff tilt in which the Pirates will confront a higher-seeded team.
And although the underdog role may be somewhat new for the Mid-Suburban West co-champions, it's one that the Pirates have quickly learned to embrace.
"We actually like it that no one is giving us a chance," senior receiver Matt Lamm said. "It started when we were picked fourth in our conference and now into the playoffs. We have a little chip on our shoulder and feel that we can play with anybody."
Whatever the source of motivation, it's no fluke that the Pirates (10-2) are into the semifinals for the first time since 1996. They've had to overcome hurdles in all three playoff wins.
It took a Sandburg failed two-point conversion in overtime to seal a 20-19 first-round victory and a series of in-game adjustments to help mollify Oak Park's speed advantage in a 41-26 Round 2 road win that was highlighted by four Lamm touchdown receptions.
In last Saturday's 28-24 quarterfinal triumph over Brother Rice, coach Rick Splitt's team stormed back from a 17-0 halftime hole and scored all 28 of its points in the game's final 10 minutes, 17 seconds.
"Coach got us together on the sideline and said it was up to us to make it happen," junior quarterback Zach Oles said. "As soon as we started moving the ball, we knew we could do it."
As has become the norm, the catalyst was Oles, whom Splitt calls a "running back and a passer". The quarterfinal win was his seventh 100-yard rushing outing and his third in the last four games with more than 300 yards of total offense.
In all, he has gained a team-high 1,227 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground, while completing over 63 percent of his 264 attempts for 2,060 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Lamm has been Oles' top target, with 53 catches for 770 yards and seven scores. The duo has been in sync all year, which Oles credits in part to their summer competition battling for the quarterback job.
"We have the same mind-set," Oles said. "Because he knows the routes so well, he always knows where to be and I know where he's going to be."
The Pirates' deep stable of receivers also includes Jovone Stricker (42 catches for 361 yards), who returned last week from a three-game absence (ankle), and Johnny O'Shea, who has reeled in 25 balls for 379 yards and four scores.
Defensively, the Pirates primarily employ a loose Cover 2 with an emphasis on keeping opponents out of the end zone. That strategy can sometimes yield chunks of yardage, but the unit's leader, linebacker Mikey Williams, cites the defense's ability to make plays when it needs to as evidence that it can compete with a Loyola offense that averages 41 points per game.
Other defenders who will need to make their presence known to help slow the Ramblers include junior defensive lineman Majetete Balanganayi (team-high nine sacks) and Dylan Tapia, who has five of the Pirates' 17 interceptions.
"We respect the kind of program Loyola has but we feel we belong on the field with anyone," Williams said. "We've got to continue to do all the little things and be as physical as possible."
A third straight Palatine upset win would earn only the second state final appearance in program history, joining the 1994 squad that lost the Class 5A final to Providence.
But don't think for a minute anyone's looking ahead.
"We've been saying all along that the most important game is the next one and that's true this week, too," Oles said. "We've come a long way already and if we continue to play hard and play fast, everything will be OK."
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
