By james art 
STILLMAN VALLEY, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — The Stillman Valley Cardinals will take the field in Wilmington Saturday night for Class 3A IHSA playoff action. If you follow 3A football, you know Wilmington has a great program.
The Wildcats have won three state championships in the past ten years, including last year. They are currently ranked second in the state behind Byron. The Cardinals just played Byron last weekend, so they go from the number one game to the number two game in eight days.
Wilmington is similar to Byron.
“I think the biggest thing is just that they’re both very, very physical teams,” Stillman Valley head coach Mike Lalor said. “They’re probably the two most physical teams in some ways from top to bottom in the bracket and they both like to run the ball. Now they do it a little differently. They have different plays and whatnot, but they’re going to come right at you and if you can’t stop them, it’s only going to get worse for you as the day goes on.”
Stillman Valley senior defensive back and fullback Jaxon Barrett also sees the similarities between Byron and Wilmington.
“I think they are close enough so Byron is a good practice game for us because they run a lot. Wilmington is a big team, just like Byron. So yeah, I think it was a good look for us the week before.
Stillman Valley entered the playoffs with a 5-4 record. Wilmington is 9-0. Between them they have won eight state championships over the years. Stillman Valley has won five of them. Kick-off will be at 6pm Saturday night in Wilmington.
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