For the second straight season, and 18th time in school history, Casey-Westfield has advanced to the quarterfinals of the IHSA Class 1A state football tournament. The Warriors reached the Elite Eight by defeating Nokomis, 48-14, on Saturday in Nokomis.

It is home sweet home again for Jeff Fritchtnitch’s team on Saturday when the undefeated Hardin (Calhoun/Brussels) Warriors call for a 2 p.m. (CST) kickoff, with a berth in the semifinals on the line.

QB Nolan Clement threw two touchdown passes in the final two minutes of the first half (the latter one coming soon after a pass interception) to put Casey-Westfield (9-2 on the year) up at intermission, 20-7. The Warriors added a TD in the third quarter to make it 26-7 before putting Nokomis away with three more scores in the final frame.

RB Daryl Evans led Nokomis (7-4) on the ground with 129 rushing yards on 17 carries. He scored both of the Redskins’ touchdowns, the first one on a 5-yard scoring run that tied the score at 7-7 with three minutes left in the first half, just ahead of Clement’s aerial magic that put the game in the visitors’ hands for good.

Calhoun/Brussels (11-0), the No. 1 seed in the southern half of the Class 1A bracket,  opened the post-season with a 48-6 win over Villa Grove. They followed that up with a 22-14 victory over eighth-seeded Greenfield-Northwestern. The Warriors, a member of the Western Illinois Valley (Southern division), have scored 40 or more points eight times, topped by a 66-0 win over North Greene at home in Week 4.

The non-LIC Warriors are led on the ground by 6-foot, 180-pound junior RB Jacob Brannan, who has rushed for 1,145 yards on 170 carries, with 23 touchdowns to his credit. Calhoun/Brussels likes to run the ball, as they have on 73 percent of their 528 offensive plays. But when the Warriors go over the top, they have proven to be potent there as well. Sophomore QB Earl Elmore has completed 95 of 126 passes (.754) for 1,231 yards and 14 touchdowns.

NOTES: This is the first post-season meeting between these two schools… Casey-Westfield is 54-33 all-time in playoffs and 8-9 in quarterfinal-round games… Calhoun/Brussels is 47-28 all-time and 7-6 in the quarterfinals… If Casey-Westfield wins, the Warriors would either host Brown County (9-2) or visit Carrollton (8-3) in the semifinal game.