A unique energy enveloped the visitors’ sideline as No.25 Palatine readied to clash with No.8 Whitney Young in a Class 8A postseason opener at Rockne Stadium on Friday night.

The Pirates, freshly removed from back-to-back opening round exits in 2023 and 2024, took the field hungry for the playoff triumph that had eluded them in past seasons.

Aside from a slow start on a brisk Halloween night, Palatine attained the postseason success it starved for, crushing the Dolphins 29-8.

“It’s the brotherhood,” Palatine senior Joseph Reiswig said. “We’ve been playing on varsity since 2023, never gotten a playoff win. We wanted one so bad this week. You can’t even imagine how hard we worked this week to get this.”

Young opened the scoring with a 59-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion to

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