ROCHELLE — The Hubs aren’t strangers to entering the postseason as underdogs, and Rochelle will be looking to carry that mentality into Sycamore on Friday when the purple and white open the Class 5A Playoffs against the Spartans at 7 p.m.

Rochelle (5-4) cracked the Class 5A North bracket as the No. 12 seed after taking down Kaneland to reach the playoffs this past week. Sycamore (7-2) took home the No. 5 seed after stunning unbeaten Sterling with a 35-7 win at home to close out the regular season. Friday will be Rochelle and Sycamore’s first playoff meeting since 2016, when the Spartans upended the Hubs 26-14 at Rochelle Township High School.

“A lot of our kids have embraced the idea that they’re fighting themselves out of a corner, especially given how the first half of our season unfolded,” head coach Kyle Kissack said. “I don’t think they’re finding themselves in unfamiliar territory by any stretch… Seeds can be deceiving and I think that every school has a good football team at this point of the season.”

The Hubs and Spartans met during the regular season last year, with Rochelle topping Sycamore 43-21. Running backs Manuel Dominguez and Logan Egler power the Sycamore rushing attack while quarterback Grant McConkey plays the catalyst role on an offense that averaged 30.1 points per game this season.

The Spartans finished with the second-best defense in the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference with an average of 12.4 points allowed per game during the regular season. The Spartans are led by head coach Joe Ryan.

Sycamore will be tasked with halting the Rochelle offense that compiled over 400 rushing yards against Kaneland this past Friday.

“Their coaching staff is overly familiar with Rochelle football and they will have their defensive unit squared away on how to attack us," Kissack said. "Offensively, they’ve improved every week… They’re very balanced this year in the way they attack defenses. They have the ability to spread teams out but they’ve been in some double tight end formations too."

It’s the second time in three years that Rochelle has entered the playoffs as the No. 12 seed after dominating No. 5 seed Ridgewood in the postseason during the 2016 school year. The Hubs would advance to the second round against either No. 4 seed Montini or No. 13 seed Woodstock North if Rochelle can exact its revenge on Sycamore this Friday.

“We’re going to play fast and physical,” Kissack said. “I don’t think there will be much guessing going on and I think it’s going to be an old-fashioned football game.”