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BENTON, Ill. -- The first round of the IHSA football playoffs is just a few days away. The Benton Rangers are in the middle of a roller coaster season. They went on a four-game win-streak, before falling to Harrisburg in a win and in game last Friday night.

Despite that loss, BCHS snuck into the postseason with a record of 5-4. 

A big reason for the team's success this year is due to quarterback Tiffin Kouzoukas. He is our final WSIL Athlete of the Week for the 2023 season.

Junior quarterback, Tiffin Kouzoukas has been leading the Rangers both through the air and on the ground all season.

Although the Rangers fell 49-28 to Harrisburg in the regular season finale, Kouzoukas shined, throwing for two touchdowns, including a 64-yard bomb, he also recorded a score on the ground.

The Benton field general threw for 267 yards, and led the team in rushing yards.

His hard work this year has shown on the field. Kouzoukas is one of the top five passers in Southern Illinois.

His impressive performance on Friday night, that helped the Rangers to a spot in the postseason earns him our final Athlete of the Week award.

"It feels pretty great, I wasn’t expecting to get it coming off of a loss, but I guess I played well, I mean, the team showed that I played well and I’m glad that I got it," said Kouzoukas.

Although the Rangers were hoping for a better record this season, Kouzoukas was very thankful for all of his teammates.

He added, "this season was kind of a build season. I mean we wanted to do good this year, probably go 9-0, but unfortunately, we couldn't, but it is what it is. I’ve got to thank my two receivers, that helped me go through the air real well this year, slimmed up the interceptions this year, a lot. I'm glad I did that, helped the team out a lot, to keep the ball on the offensive side. Converted on a lot of drives that we needed to convert, and just want to thank the defense too."

Rangers head coach, Justin Groves had high praise for Kouzoukas� work-ethic throughout the off-season and leading into the postseason.

"He’s a kid that works real hard in the off-season, for us and you know, spends a lot of time in the weight room, he gets kids together and comes out and throws in the off-season. He’s got the work-ethic that we need at the position. You know, there’s been sometimes that maybe we asked him to do too much and different things, so he’s adjusted well, and I think we’ve got a good system now that he’s comfortable in and you know, there’ll be another year of pay-off once we get some things settled in," said Coach Groves.

The playoffs mark the start of a blank slate for the Rangers. Coach Groves says there are a few key things his squad needs to do to get a win on Saturday.

"We’ve just got to play for each other and play mistake free if we want to be in a ball game this week. We can’t make mistakes, turning the ball over, have penalties and things. So, right now we’re just coming up with the game plan and finalizing that and put our kids in the best chance they can be in to succeed. Saturday will be a lot of fun, a tough environment, but our kids are looking forward to the challenge."

The first round of this year's IHSA football playoffs gets underway this Saturday. Benton is one of three area teams on the road. The No. 13 ranked Rangers will travel to Mt. Camel to face the No. 4 Golden Aces, its win or go home. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.