Naperville Central senior linebacker Justin Skryd leads the Redhawks into Friday's Class 8A playoff opener with a team-high 68 tackles.

The 29th-seeded Redhawks (5-4) host 36th-seeded Warren (4-5) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at Memorial Stadium (440 W. Aurora Ave.).

The Redhawks missed the postseason last year.

Skryd, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior, has added four tackles for loss, three pass breakups, a forced fumble and an interception this season.

He is the first member of his family to attend Naperville Central, as first profiled by the Chicago Tribune's Matt Le Cren in an Oct. 20 story.

His father, Dan Skryd, was a three-sport athlete at Wheaton St. Francis who went on to play baseball at Western Michigan. His mother attended Naperville North. His aunt Sara won two state titles at St. Francis before playing at Long Beach State and Western Michigan.

The athletic bloodline runs deep. Skryd told the Tribune his father coached him from the start, "practicing handoffs in the living room and practicing tackles in the backyard."

Coach Mike Ulreich told the Tribune that Skryd set the tone even when the Redhawks opened the season 1-3. "Justin was the standard-setter each and every week," Ulreich said.

That standard has shown up on the field. In a 17-7 win over Waubonsie Valley that helped right the Redhawks' season, Skryd intercepted a fourth-down pass at the Central 25-yard line late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory, according to the Central Times. Naperville Central's defense then allowed a combined 24 points in its final two regular-season wins, the Tribune reported.

Junior cornerback Eron Kennedy, a Division I prospect in his second year as a varsity starter, told the Tribune that Skryd's film study is "kind of freaky." Kennedy said Skryd can call out an opponent's play before anyone else reads the defense.

Skryd is undecided on playing college football. But the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) expanded its playoff field from 32 to 48 teams per class this season, and the Redhawks took advantage. A win Friday would send Naperville Central to fourth-seeded Oswego (8-1) in the second round, according to the IHSA Class 8A bracket.

Three other area teams also open Class 8A playoff play Friday, Oct. 23: Neuqua Valley (3-6) travels to 25th-seeded Marist, Waubonsie Valley (3-6) visits 24th-seeded Barrington, and Metea Valley (3-6) heads to 21st-seeded Lyons, according to the Tribune's pairings list.