Fabulous 15 in state football playoffs

Comments

October 25, 2009

By DICK GOSS dgoss@scn1.com

Fifteen indeed was the magic number.

That's how many Joliet area high school football teams have been invited to the postseason playoff extravaganza.

Not many surprises, really, when the brackets for the eight classes were announced Saturday night. The 15 area qualifiers fell into the classes where it was presumed they would be, including Morris in 4A, not 5A.

The one thing that did happen, however, is the IHSA annexed the Joliet area to the southern part of the state.

For example, Joliet Catholic Academy in Class 5A. The Hilltoppers open at home against Tory Triad and face the prospect of a Round 2 trip to Cahokia.

And how about the goings-on in 7A? The East St. Louis bracket features the No. 1 team in the state and its neighbors from the Southwestern Conference -- Belleville West, O'Fallon and Edwardsville. They are lumped in an 8-team quadrant in 7A with Lincoln-Way East, Lincoln-Way Central, Minooka and Bradley-Bourbonnais.

Minooka will get the first shot at East St. Louis, should it win its home oepner against Edwardsville. Lincoln-Way East or Central could see East St. Louis in the quarterfinals.

A couple of first-round matchups are especially interesting from a local perspective. Reed-Custer will get another shot at Wilmington in 3A, and in 6A, Lincoln-Way North will make its playoff debut at Lemont, the 6A two-time defendng runnerup.

All things considered, even with some long trips involved, this area has potential for teams to go a long way in every class from 3A through 8A.

When you sport the likes of Bolingbrook, Lincoln-Way East, Providence, Lemont, JCA, Morris, Wilmington, et al., you know something good may be brewing.

Let's buckle the chin straps and get it on.

CLASS 3A
(Lower Bracket)

No. 7 Reed-Custer (6-3) at No. 2 Wilmington (9-0)

CLASS 4A
(Lower Bracket)

No. 13 Morris (5-4) at No. 4 Raby (8-1)
No. 15 Peotone (5-4) at No. 2 Richmond-Burton (8-1)
No. 10 Dunlap (6-3) at No. 7 Coal City (7-2)

CLASS 5A
(Upper Bracket)

No. 11 Triad (7-2) at No. 6 Joliet Catholic Academy (7-2)

CLASS 6A
(Upper Bracket)

No. 13 Lincoln-Way North (6-3) at No. 4 Lemont (8-1)
No. 15 Harlan (6-3) at No. 2 Providence Catholic (8-1)

CLASS 7A
(Upper Bracket)*

No. 5 Plainfield North (7-2) at No. 4 St. Rita (7-2)
No. 8 Belleville West (5-4) at No. 1 Lincoln-Way East (8-1)
No. 5 O'Fallon (6-3) at No. 4 Lincoln-Way Central (6-3)
No. 6 Edwardsville (H.S.) (6-3) at No. 3 Minooka (7-2)

CLASS 8A
(Upper Bracket)

No. 12 Lockport (6-3) at No. 5 Naperville Central (7-2)
No. 15 Lyons (5-4) at No. 2 Bolingbrook (8-1)

The IHSA will announce the dates and times for first-round games at 3 p.m. on Monday. For a complete look at all the brackets, visit IHSA.org

*The Class 7A upper bracket was divided into two halves to reduce travel time.