Who is Palatine?

Palatine High School, Glenbrook South's opponent in the second round of the IHSA playoffs, was founded in 1875 and is one of the oldest high schools in the Chicago area. Its teams are known as the Pirates and they compete in the Mid-Suburban League.

Carol Marin (above) is probably the most well-known Palatine alum (in 135 years?).

The football team is coached by Tyler Donnelly and finished the regular season at 6-4. All four teams that beat Palatine are still alive in the playoffs. Given their uniforms, the game this weekend against GBS will look a lot like Ohio State-Michigan.

The Pirates are led by quarterback Cody Bobbit (above), which is an unfortunate name for anyone who was around in the '90s. He's been known to throw to his younger brother, sophomore Jesse Bobbit.

After the loss to Schaumburg in which Bobbit ran for 112 yards, threw for 310 and three touchdowns, Saxon coach Mark Stilling said, "What a competitor [Cody] Bobbit is. It's a lot more fun to watch him on film than trying to defend him on Friday night."

When Bobbit isn't passing, he's usually handing the ball off to star running back Jimmy Smearman (another not-so-great name), who scored three touchdowns against Hoffman Estates and three in the first round of the playoffs last week against Glenbard North (above).

The defense is anchored by linebacker Kurt Becker, who had three interceptions in the game against Barrington, and Jesse Bobbit and Dan Haze (above), who combined for three picks against Glenbard North.

Palatine's 2010 season in a nutshell:

Lake Forest 28, Palatine 21
Palatine 28, Rolling Meadows 12
Palatine 37, Wheeling 23
Prospect 41, Palatine 27
Palatine 49, Hoffman Estates 7
Palatine 27, Conant 10
Fremd 17, Palatine 16
Schaumburg 35, Palatine 27
Palatine 21, Barrington 10
Palatine 28, Glenbard North 14