Stillman Valley, Illinois-Winnebago will get a second crack at Stillman Valley in playoff action Saturday.  The two teams met before in week seven of the regular season.  That game was all Stillman Valley.  The Cardinals jumped out to a 40-0 halftime lead.  They won the game 40-7.

"We went out there and we were hyped up, and then it just seemed like a deer in the headlight sort of thing for some of the guys," said Winnebago senior tightend A.J. Thomas.

"They dominated every aspect of the game from special teams to offense to defense," said Winnebago coach Mark Helm to WTVO.  "We didn't do a whole lot right that night."

Stillman Valley has pretty much done everything right all season.  The Cardinals are 10-0.  Their only close call came on the final night of the regular season when they held off Oregon 15-8 in the mud.

"The kids have done a good job of focusing and preparing," said Stillman coach Mike Lalor to WTVO.  "They've executed very well.  I"m surprised the way they've executed on some nights the way the weather has been."

With the exception of the first Stillman game Winnebago has also been dominant.  Last week the Indians opened playoff action strong by defeating last year's state runnerup in Class 4A Aurora Christian 28-14.  That's the Winnebago team that everyone is expecting will show up Saturday at Stillman.

"Winnebago's definitely going to come out as a better team than what we saw the first time," said Stillman receiver Matt Arnold.  "They're running better.  It looks like they're blocking a lot better."

"I think the biggest thing is they're playing a lot better now then what they were the night they came down here," said Lalor.  "I just think it was a situation where they had a lot of kids racked up that night, and they came out and they tried their best, but they were really short-handed."

The Indians are happy to have a second chance to play at Stillman Valley to prove that that first game isn't a true indication of who they are.

"We've got kind of a second chance to come back and try to redeem ourselves for the last time we played those guys," said Thomas.  "We're very excited we get to play them again.  I think we feel a lot more prepared this time around."

"That's all I can hope for that the kids want another shot," said Helm.  "We've been talking about it.  To me its more about another game then it is the opponent.  It just so happens to be Stillman Valley."

Kickoff will be at 1:00.