TUSCOLA - Sitting at 3-3 with Maroa-Forsyth coming to town, Tuscola coach Rick Reinhart learned a lot about his team.

The Warriors were still stinging from Week 6's last-second loss to Central A&M. Not only did the loss come after a fortuitous bounce on a blocked field goal to end the game, but it hung some doubt on Tuscola about a deep playoff run. Seven weeks ago, not many people thought Tuscola would still be playing football today.

"We were a desperate team," Reinhart said about going into the game against Maroa. "We would have done anything to win that game."

Now, that 28-0 win against the state semifinalist Trojans looks just like another one of Tuscola's eight defensive shutouts during the year. But at the time, the ‘W' saved the Warriors' season.

"I am not sure what would have happened if we lost that game," Reinhart said. "Up to that point, we weren't getting the bounces or breaks and it was frustrating.

"That game against Maroa turned everything around."

Granted, Tuscola's final two opponents were a combined 7-11, but that win sparked a six-game winning streak that is on the line against Jacksonville Routt (9-3) today. In those six games, the Warriors have outscored opponents 173-24 and six of those points came on a defensive touchdown scored by Argenta-Oreana. On top of that, one of the wins came against previously unbeaten Mount Sterling Brown County.

"They are playing great football, that's for sure," Routt coach Nate Graham said. "We have to be flawless if we expect to go there and win a game. It's going to be a tough task."

At the top of the priority list for Graham is winning the battle at the offensive line of scrimmage. All week long he's been preaching quality blocking, especially for the duration of a play. He's noticed on film that Tuscola makes a lot of plays from behind the action.

"We're confident in our rushing attack, but that relies on blocking," Graham said. "If we execute our blocking scheme, we can battle against a very good Tuscola (9-3) team."

The reason Routt's confident in its running game is Michael Tonry. He's rushed for more than 1,500 yards and 22 touchdowns on 258 carries. The Rockets have also gotten productive carries from one of its two quarterbacks, Ben Heinemann, who's rushed for nearly 500 yards.

"This is going to be the toughest test yet for our defense," Reinhart said. "They've got great speed in Tonry and have been able to run against some good competition all year."

Tonry helped Routt avenge a regular season loss to Concord Triopia (10-2) last week. One of the other losses Routt suffered this year was against Brown County, a team Tuscola beat 21-18 two weeks ago in the quarterfinals. Despite lack of proximity between Tuscola and Routt's conference, Western Illinois Valley, the Warriors have plenty of familiarity with it.

Last year, Tuscola beat Routt in the first round of the playoffs before collapsing against Triopia in the quarterfinals. But that's the only loss the Warriors have suffered against WIVC teams in the last four years.

"Our kids have moved on from that, so we don't talk about it," Graham said about last year's loss to Tuscola. "This is a new team and we're motivated by playing in Champaign next weekend not last year's game."

Today's game kicks off at 3 p.m. in Tuscola. It's the third home game of the playoffs for the Warriors who haven't given up a defensive touchdown in seven home games.

The winner moves on to the state finals next Saturday in Champaign against the winner of Lexington (12-0) and Lena-Winslow (11-1).

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