Nearly half of Coal City's 1,686 rushing yards this season have been produced by senior tailback Ryland Tondini, who has 111 carries for 778 yards with 11 touchdowns.

In an offense centered around since-graduated quarterback Cody Onsen, Tondini was just another piece in the Coalers' offense last season. His emergence in 2012 is one reason the Coalers are 9-1 heading into Saturday's Class 4A playoff game at Geneseo.

Between last week's 27-20 defeat of Peotone in the first round of the playoffs and the Geneseo game, Tondini shared his thoughts with the Morris Daily Herald.