ROCHELLE — Three consecutive victories over Chicago Catholic League schools have the Rochelle Hub varsity football team on a seven-game winning streak and into the quarterfinals of the state playoffs for the second time in three seasons. Rochelle’s toughest test lies ahead, as the Hubs will need to dethrone a two-time defending state champion to keep their season alive.

Rochelle (10-1, 4-1 Interstate 8) will host Nazareth Academy on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Hubs have dominated Chicago Catholic League teams in back-to-back weeks, dispatching Marmion Academy 42-7 in the first round before beating Benet Academy 38-6 in the second round last week. But the Roadrunners (9-2, 2-1 CCL/ESCC Green) are a whole nother animal. Nazareth has won two straight state titles in Class 5A and will arrive as the No. 1 ranked team in 5A.

“They do everything really well,” head coach Kyle Kissack said. “Offensively, they have so many weapons in so many different spots. Their quarterback is a four-year starter and they have very dynamic and explosive players at the skill positions. As it relates to the scheme, they do a great job of putting their kids in positions to be successful and they can use their formations to get the defense into exactly what they want. Defensively, they’re very physical and they’re very fast. They don’t make many mistakes and they’re a well coached team with great athletes.”

Nazareth enters the quarterfinals after a 54-0 win over Chicago Payton in the first round and a 44-20 win over Woodstock North in the second round. The Roadrunners are led by a slew of CCL/ESCC All-Conference selections including senior quarterback Logan Malachuk along with Stanford commit Gabe Kaminski (TE/LB) and Indiana commit Garrett Reese (WR/DB). Trenton Walker (WR/DB) is a junior who currently holds offers from Marshall and Western Illinois.

“They find themselves in these moments every year,” Kissack said. “They have experience in big games and they certainly have all of the pieces in place. For us, it comes down to being patient and controlling the clock offensively as well as finding ways to get off the field on defense. We have to play really well and I think our kids are really excited for the challenge in front of them. We’ve been building for this moment and it didn’t just show up on our doorstep.”

The Hubs, who enter as the No. 7 ranked team in 5A, have dominated Chicago Catholic League teams over the last three weeks. Rochelle forced three turnovers and generated three sacks on defense while rushing for 327 yards against Benet Academy last week. The Hubs also notched three sacks and recovered two short kicks on special teams during their win over Marmion. Rochelle will look to continue the formula of explosive plays, turnovers and special teams highlights on Saturday. The Hubs are eyeing their first state semifinal berth since 2002.

“We build our program from the foundational principle of ‘Team Together’ and every single one of these kids will play as hard as they can for each other,” Kissack said. “The things we do well can shorten the game and put us in a position to be successful in the end. We’ll certainly need to have a high level of execution and we’ll need to play with great pad level and physicality. Our backs will need to find a way to get 4 yards and defensively, it’ll be about getting 11 players on one to finish the play. The competitiveness of this group fuels their fire, effort and energy.”

The winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal game between the No. 2 seed Rochelle and the No. 3 seed Nazareth Academy will take on either the No. 1 seed Sycamore or the No. 4 seed Wheaton St. Francis in the semifinals. The Hubs made history last week, winning their 10th game in a season for the first time since 2003, and they’re looking to make even more.

“It doesn’t happen around here pretty often and it’s a credit to our kids and their development over the course of their careers,” Kissack said. “Our kids are well deserving of the chance to compete in the quarterfinals. Our kids are mature and humble enough to recognize this moment and they understand that it’s less about our opponents and it’s more about us. The margin of error gets smaller and smaller, but we’ve competed as a group to get to this point.”