Sports
Raiders Ready for Rematch with Caravan
The Raiders will get their chance at revenge with Mount Carmel coming to town Saturday.
After IHSA playoff-opening , Raiders head coach John Ivlow declined to say whether he preferred to face Mount Carmel or Hinsdale Central.
Now that it's been decided for them—Bolingbrook will take on Mount Carmel on Saturday at 6 p.m. after the Caravan dropped Hinsdale Central 28-14—Ivlow and company may be secretly pleased things wrapped up the way they did.
That's because it offers the Raiders a shot at revenge. Mount Carmel was the team that ousted the Raiders in last season's playoffs.
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"We'll play whoever. You've got to beat them all to get where you want to be," Ivlow said after Friday's win. "We all want to be state champs."
But as much as this matchup will be billed a revenge game by media and fans alike, Bolingbrook quarterback Aaron Bailey is trying to keep a level head about it.
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"I'm not looking for revenge or anything like that," he said. "I just want to go out there and play anybody who goes out there."
This season, the Raiders get the Caravan on their home turf. And home-field advantage might be a tipping point in a battle of high school football giants in a loaded 8A field.
Last season, Bolingbrook fell droped a 55-27 decision to Mount Carmel in the playoffs. The Raiders fell behind early and faced a 42-0 deficit at halftime before clawing back to score 27 points in an attempt to make things interesting after intermission.
One year later, Bolingbrook is in better position to win.
This season's team is one year better, stronger and smarter, and enters with an outstanding 9-1 record. The Raiders are also the .
Bailey's 300-yard game on the ground last week showed how he could carry the offense to victory.
And as a team, the Raiders proved they could overcome minor setbacks, such as giving up 14 points off turnovers in the second quarter to Neuqua Valley, by re-focusing its efforts in the second half.
"Despite messing up, we really did great," Bailey said after Friday's win as he assessed what happened on the field. "That shows how we can play bad and still do good.
"We just have to calm down, play our game. We're going to learn from our mistakes and perform the way we've been doing."
