Sauk Valley IHSA quarterfinal, I8FA semifinal football playoff previews

Class 4ANo. 4 Sterling (9-2) at No. 1 Morris (11-0)When: 4 p.m. SaturdayAbout the Golden Warriors: Sterling didn’t have much trouble securing its first quarterfinal appearance since 2022, dominating Hillcrest 49-15 in the second round. The Golden Warriors scored on seven of their first 10 possessions. Five different Golden Warriors finished with at least one touchdown in the contest, and they also received a spectacular effort from their defense, with 15 Hillcrest plays being limited to no gain or negative yardage. That’s a good sign for Sterling considering it has had a couple of opponents drop 50-plus points on it, and the Sterling defense will have to deliver a similar type of effort to keep the Golden Warriors in striking distance against a Morris team that doesn’t have a lot of visible weaknesses right now.Jeremiah Muhammad had 19 tackles, a sack and four TFLs against Hillcrest. Alexander Zaragoza, Jordan Galloway and Isaac Ibarra each had an interception. Sterling shared the back