Unity's Brock Suding flexes after the Rocket's homecoming game against Rantoul Township on October 7. The Rockets will host Harrisburg as their first-round opponent in the 2022 IHSA football playoffs. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks
URBANA -- Unity (8-1), who earned a first-round home playoff game, will host Harrisburg at Hicks Field. Kickoff will be announced early next week. This is the fifth consecutive playoff appearance for the 2021 Class 3A runner-up team. The Rockets have lost just two of their last 20 football games in the past two years. The Bulldogs finished third in the Southern Illinois River-to-River conference and is making their first playoff appearance in Class 3A since the 2011-2012 season. Last fall, the team finished 5-5 in the 4A bracket. Meanwhile, St. Joseph-Ogden guaranteed their spot into the 2022 playoffs picking up their sixth win with a 34-20 win over Paxton-Buckley-Loda. The Spartans will host Robinson, who also finished the regular season, 6-3. The school's official Twitter feed announced a game time of 3pm on Saturday, October 29. The survivor advances to face the winner of the contest between #2 seed Benton and Olympia in the second round the following week. Six of the nine football teams in the Illini Prairie Conference made the first-round cut. In addition to SJO and Unity, Bloomington Central Catholic, Prairie Central, Monticello, and Paxton-Buckley-Loda are all in the hunt for a state football title game appearance at Memorial Stadium in November.
