Football: Raiders Enjoying Ride to State Finals

The Bolingbrook Raiders football team has taken a page out of DJ Khaled's playbook this season. In other words, all they do is win. 

The popular song blasted through the football stadium as the Raiders (12-1) had a focused but loose practice Wednesday in preparation for their biggest game of the season—decade, even—an IHSA 8A state championship game against Loyola Academy tonight at 7 p.m. in Champaign.

, who , said he plans playing.

“I was running around (Wednesday), jumping up and down,” said Morrison, who is a . “I wasn’t running or sprinting as fast as I can. I’m not totally back to my normal speed. I can run now, thank God.”

The said he knew from summer camp that this Raiders team was special, with an extremely talented group that could put everything together. 

“It shows how hard work has paid off after waking up early, lifting weights and practicing in 100-degree weather,” Morrison said.  “This is the way you want to go out as a senior—to play for the state championship. We are just having fun and making sure everyone is having fun this week. Of course you want to win, but you want to make sure you have fun out there.”

is a huge reason why the Raiders are in this position for the first time since 1993. Bailey has 11 rushing touchdowns this postseason along, including a 60-yard score against that propelled Bolingbrook to the state finals.

“I want to soak it all in and have fun,” said Bailey, who is a . “This is really one in a lifetime shot, but you just have to fun out there and don’t complain. I’m sure a lot of people wish they were in this situation.”

Senior defensive back Phillip Wilson said he thinks the offense, defense, special teams and scouting team have all been special this year.

“We’ve got a lot of great players,” said Wilson, who received an offer to play for Minnesota State. “ This is a really good team. This is something I will remember for the rest of my life.”

Not only do the Raiders think they are special, but Naperville Central head coach Mike Stine does as well. He thinks they have a good chance of beating the Ramblers even though Bolingbrook is considered the underdog.

“Aaron Bailey gets them going, but they’ve got a good offensive line,” Stine said after Saturday’s 22-19 semifinals loss to Bolingbrook. “With their offense and defense, it’s going to be a great football game.”

As for Loyola (13-0), Morrison said that based off film, the Ramblers pass the ball up to 90 percent of the time. Loyola quarterback Malcolm Weaver is a prolific passer with 2,226 yards with 26 TDs.

“They have a pretty good quarterback,” Morrison said. “The linebackers have to jam the receivers off the line to slow them down.  We’ve got a lot of strong men and have the most talented defense out there. We could shut any offense down."

Bailey said the offense has found some weaknesses in a tough Loyola’s defense.

“We saw a few plays we could run against them from studying film,” Bailey said. “We are going to practice them today and see how they work against their defense.”