This Saturday at Prairie Ridge the Wolves will face Deerfield in the Round 1 Playoff game. The Wolves are looking to go 10-0 on the year, but how difficult will that task be? Let’s take a closer look.

Deerfield, who play in the Central Suburban Conference, posted a 5-4 record overall, being just 2-3 against conference opponents. Of their five wins, just two came against teams with winning records. Of their wins, two come from teams who won only a single game all year, these being victories against 1-8 Grayslake Central and Maine East. In terms of competing with the big kids, Deerfield doesn’t impress.

Throughout the season, Deerfield scored a total of 179 points and allowed 145 points, a point differential of +34. To give you perspective, PR scored 436 points and allowed just 74, a differential of +362. On average, Deerfield scored less than 20 points a game, but allowed just 16 points per game. Generally, they have not been a part of high-scoring affairs.

When it came to beating good teams, Deerfield fell short. In a game against Highland Park, who posted a 7-2 record on the year, Deerfield failed to score and dropped the game 16-0. In another bout with Vernon Hills, a team that went 6-3, Deerfield lost a close game 10-7. Perhaps their toughest game was an away game against Glenbrook North, who only lost one game all year. Deerfield dropped the game 31-14, without having any real chance of competing. What do we get from this? When it comes to beating good teams who have a defensive identity, Deerfield falls short.

Prairie Ridge, on the other hand, has been dominant all year. Nobody can question that the Wolves are the team to beat in these playoffs. Montini, the team that put last year’s season to end, is still a good team, but not as good. Montini was 6-3 this year. It looks like the biggest obstacle to the Wolves is themselves, and they’ve never disappointed so far, and don’t expect them to stop now.

Mr. Terhaar, the team’s offensive coordinator, said that the game plan on Saturday isn’t going to be much different than during the season. “We want to focus on what got us here. We’re going to run triple option, because that’s what we’ve done all year and we can be successful with it. Most of these teams haven’t had to face the triple option, which is why it’s so hard to stop.”

If anything, the Wolves will want to simplify their game. “Going into the playoffs, some teams increase the size of their playbook, but when we won the state championship we reduced the size of our playbook. We’re going to run plays that we know we’ve been successful with and that the players are confident in.”

9-0. That’s the Wolves’ record so far this year. When it comes to winning, they know what to do. High leverage situations need to be met with high confidence, which is exactly what PR is bringing to the table on Saturday. Deerfield can play as hard as they can, but nothing might be enough to beat these Wolves.