Prairie State Wire

Chicago/East Suburban Catholic conference teams went 11-0 this weekend in the first round of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) football playoffs, outscoring their opponents 467 to 82.

On the flip side, football teams from Chicago Public Schools (CPS) went 3-21 in the first round and were outscored 1,039 to 255, for an average score of 43 to 10.

In 2019, the last time the IHSA has hosted a state football tournament, the Chicago/East Suburban Catholic qualified 15 teams for the playoffs and went 11-4 in Round One; in 2018, it qualified 11 and went 8-3. 

CPS qualified 20 and went 3-17 in 2019; in 2018, it qualified 23 and went 4-19 in Round One, with one of the wins (and losses) being from a head-to-head matchup between two CPS schools.

All told, teams from 22 private high schools are among the 128 who advance to Round 2.  

All told, 256 teams qualified for the postseason tournaments, 32 in each of eight classes, organized by enrollment. 1A is the smallest and 8A is the largest.

Other top-performing conferences in Round One this year: the DuKane, Illini Prairie and Northwest Upstate Illini, which each saw four teams advance. 

The DuKane had four teams advance, including Carol Stream Glenbard North (7-3) in 8A and Batavia (10-0), Wheaton North (9-1) and Geneva (6-4) in 7A. 

In 3A, undefeated Illini Prairie power Tolono Unity (10-0) from Champaign County, will play conference rival Paxton-Buckley-Loda (7-3) in the second round. Unity beat PBL 35-0 in Week 8. 

Illini Prairie member Monticello (8-2) plays undefeated Benton (10-0) in a 3A Second Round match-up. Prairie Central plays at 9-1 Princeton.

Du-Pec Co-op (8-1), the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference champion, hosts DuPage County power IC Catholic in Round 2 in 3A.

In 1A, Northwest Upstate Illini Conference rivals Forreston (8-2) and Lena-Winslow (8-2 are matched up in Round 2; Forreston won their regular season game in Week 9, 22-20.

IHSA Football Playoffs- Round One Performance by Conference

Conference	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
Chicago/East Suburban Catholic	11	0	1.000	467	82
DuKane	4	1	0.800	167	77
Illini Prairie	4	1	0.800	181	65
Northwest Upstate Illini	4	1	0.800	176	43
Mississippi Valley	3	1	0.750	101	112
Sangamo	3	1	0.750	124	86
Fox Valley	4	2	0.667	275	154
Heart of Illinois	4	2	0.667	149	128
Metro Suburban	4	2	0.667	174	168
Southern Illinois River-to-River	4	2	0.667	213	136
DuPage Valley	2	1	0.667	104	39
Southland	2	1	0.667	89	28
Three Rivers	5	3	0.625	225	230
Big Northern	3	2	0.600	219	111
Black Diamond	3	2	0.600	127	135
Central State Eight	3	2	0.600	199	186
Illinois Central Eight	3	2	0.600	133	62
Mid-Illini	3	2	0.600	126	123
Northern Illinois	3	2	0.600	188	145
South Central	3	2	0.600	120	129
Mid-Suburban	4	3	0.571	162	186
Western Illinois Valley	4	3	0.571	203	163
Kishwaukee River/Interstate Eight	4	4	0.500	210	181
Central Suburban	3	3	0.500	132	136
West Suburban	3	3	0.500	146	120
Central Illinois	2	2	0.500	97	102
North Suburban	2	2	0.500	68	80
Northern Lake County	2	2	0.500	81	97
Apollo	1	1	0.500	56	24
Southwest Prairie	3	4	0.429	132	188
Big Twelve	2	3	0.400	133	118
Cahokia	2	3	0.400	102	112
Southwest Suburban	2	3	0.400	122	113
Upstate Eight	2	3	0.400	72	171
Independent Schools	2	4	0.333	149	115
Little Illini	2	4	0.333	106	213
South Seven	1	2	0.333	48	94
Southwestern	1	2	0.333	85	58
Western Big 6	1	2	0.333	134	180
Vermilion Valley	2	5	0.286	111	193
South Suburban	2	6	0.250	159	222
Lincoln Prairie	1	3	0.250	78	133
Prairieland	1	3	0.250	86	109
Lincoln Trail	1	5	0.167	93	164
Chicago Public Schools	3	21	0.125	255	1,039

Teams remaining by conference

Conference	#	Schools		Class
Apollo	1	Mahomet-Seymour		5A
Big Northern	3	Byron		3A
		Genoa-Kingston		4A
		Stillman Valley		4A
Big Twelve	2	Champaign Centennial		6A
		Normal Community		7A
Black Diamond	3	Sesser-Valler Co-op		1A
		Johnston City		2A
		Fairfield		3A
Cahokia	2	Freeburg		4A
		Breese Central		4A
Chicago/East Sub. Catholic	11	Joliet Catholic Academy	*	4A
		Nazareth Academy	*	5A
		St. Patrick	*	5A
		Fenwick	*	5A
		Marmion Academy	*	5A
		St. Ignatius	*	6A
		Mt. Carmel	*	7A
		Brother Rice	*	7A
		St. Rita	*	7A
		Loyola Academy	*	8A
		Marist	*	8A
Central Illinois	2	Moweaqua Central A & M		1A
		Decatur St. Teresa	*	2A
Central State Eight	3	Springfield		6A
		Rochester		4A
		Sacred Heart-Griffin	*	4A
Central Suburban	3	Deerfield		6A
		Glenbrook South		8A
		Maine South		8A
Chicago Public Schools	3	Chicago Clark		3A
		Chicago Morgan Park		5A
		Chicago Phillips		4A
DuKane	4	Wheaton North		7A
		Glenbard North		8A
		Batavia		7A
		Geneva		7A
DuPage Valley	2	Neuqua Valley		8A
		Naperville Central		8A
Fox Valley	4	Cary-Grove		6A
		Jacobs		7A
		Crystal Lake Central		6A
		Prairie Ridge		6A
Heart of Illinois	4	Tremont		2A
		Downs Tri-Valley		2A
		Deer Creek-Mackinaw		2A
		Ridgeview-Lexington Co-op		1A
Illini Prairie	4	Monticello		3A
		Tolono Unity		3A
		Paxton Buckley Loda		3A
		Prairie Central		3A
Illinois Central Eight	3	Reed-Custer		3A
		Wilmington		2A
		Lisle		3A
Independent Schools	2	Ottawa Marquette	*	1A
		Breese Mater Dei	*	2A
Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8	4	Sycamore		5A
		Morris		5A
		Richmond-Burton		4A
		Rochelle		5A
Lincoln Prairie	1	Arcola		1A
Lincoln Trail	1	Abingdon-Avon		1A
Little Illini	2	Mt. Carmel (Ill.)		3A
		Paris		4A
Metro Suburban	4	IC Catholic	*	3A
		Bishop McNamara	*	2A
		Wheaton Academy	*	4A
		Wheaton St. Francis	*	4A
Mid-Illini	3	Pekin		7A
		Morton		5A
		Washington		6A
Mid-Suburban	4	Buffalo Grove		7A
		Prospect		7A
		Hoffman Estates		7A
		Palatine		8A
Mississippi Valley	3	Triad		5A
		Mascoutah		5A
		Bethalto Civic Memorial		4A
North Suburban	2	Lake Forest		6A
		Warren		8A
Northern Illinois (NIC-10)	3	Rockton Hononegah		7A
		Machesney Park Harlem		6A
		Rockford Boylan	*	5A
Northern Lake County	2	Wauconda		6A
		Grayslake Central		6A
Northwest Upstate Illini	4	Pecatonica Du-Pec Coop		3A
		Forreston		1A
		Lena-Winslow		1A
		Fulton		1A
Prairieland	1	Farmington		2A
Sangamo	3	Williamsville		3A
		Maroa-Forsyth		2A
		Athens		1A
South Central	3	Carlinville		3A
		Pana		2A
		Vandalia		2A
South Seven	1	Marion		5A
South Suburban	2	Lemont		6A
		Richards		6A
Southern Illinois River to River	4	Carterville		4A
		Murphysboro		4A
		Nashville		2A
		Benton		3A
Southland	2	Kankakee		5A
		Crete-Monee		6A
Southwest Prairie	3	Plainfield North		8A
		Minooka		8A
		Yorkville		7A
Southwest Suburban	2	Lockport		8A
		Lincoln Way East		8A
Southwestern	1	East St. Louis Senior		6A
Three Rivers	5	Sterling Newman Central Catholic	*	2A
		Kewanee		4A
		Peru St. Bede	*	1A
		Princeton		3A
		Erie-Prophetstown Co-op		2A
Upstate Eight	2	South Elgin		8A
		Glenbard South		5A
Vermilion Valley	2	Gilman Iroquois West		1A
		Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin		2A
West Suburban	3	Willowbrook		7A
		Hinsdale Central		8A
		Glenbard West		8A
Western Big 6	1	Moline		7A
Western Illinois Valley	4	Mt. Sterling Brown County		1A
		Camp Point Central		1A
		Greenfield Northwestern Co-op		1A
		Carrollton		1A

Source: Illinois High School Association

*Denotes a private high school