ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Hub varsity football team will host a playoff game for the first time since 2017. After receiving the No. 5 seed in the north division of the IHSA 5A Playoff bracket over the weekend, Rochelle will host No. 12 seed Chicago (Payton) this Friday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.

The Hubs enter the playoffs with a 7-2 overall record and a six-game winning streak during which Rochelle has averaged over 36 points per game. The Grizzlies will arrive Friday evening with a 6-3 overall record and a 4-1 record in the Chicago Public Illini (Prairie State) Conference.

“I thought we received a good seed and a good draw,” head coach Kyle Kissack said. “Our kids are healthy and they really want to keep playing. I think Payton is really well coached and we met for a few hours on Sunday to talk about the matchup. They’re well coached in how they close with their shoulders squared and how they scrape hard and use their hands in their blocking schemes. They have some talented players who can do a variety of things for them.”

Chicago (Payton) will be one of a state-record 24 Chicago Public School football programs competing in the playoffs this fall. The Grizzlies rode a four-game winning streak into their Chicago Public League Playoff matchup against Chicago (Phillips) this past weekend, with the Wildcats dominating the Grizzlies 50-6. Chicago (Payton) scored its most notable win during Week 8, with the Grizzlies edging previously unbeaten Chicago (Clark) in a 17-16 matchup.

“They’ve been in some big games and they’ve won some big games,” Kissack said. “We need to focus on one day at a time and work on getting better every day. We’ve played well offensively throughout the season, but I think our defense has really come along as the season has progressed. After our loss against Richmond-Burton, our defense has played really well against some explosive and dynamic teams and players. Our defense has grown significantly.”

Should the Hubs advance beyond the first round Friday evening, Rochelle would reach the second round for the first time since 2017, when the Hubs upset No. 1 seed and previously undefeated Johnsburg before falling against Morris in the quarterfinals. Rochelle has some history with Chicago (Payton), as the Hubs and Grizzlies squared off in the first round of the IHSA 4A Playoffs during the 2014 season, with Rochelle crushing Chicago (Payton) 60-16.

“We’ve added some wrinkles to our defense to improve our coverage in space and our special teams unit came up with huge plays over a three-game stretch that really changed things for us,” Kissack said. “We’re absolutely playing complementary football right now and we’re getting healthy, which has been a really big part of our success. It really stunk not playing last week, but we were able to reset mentally and we’re healthy and the kids are engaged.”