The high school Fall sports playoffs are well under way, to include 256 football teams to begin playoffs in eight classes Friday and Saturday. The final sport to start will be swimming in sectional meets Saturday, Nov. 10. The final Fall State game will be the Class 8A championship, Saturday, Nov. 24.
West Aurora High School football team would like to play in the championship game. The Blackhawks have been in the playoffs the last three seasons, following a 21-year absence. Two of the last three seasons the Blackhawks lost to the eventual State champion, including 2016 when Maine South won, 42-40, at West Aurora in a first-round game. Loyola Academy beat West Aurora in a 2015 first round game, in its first year in the playoffs since 1994. Loyola won the Class 8A State championship. Last season Naperville Central beat West Aurora in round one, but, did not capture the State championship.
West Aurora will begin its playoff bid this season in a 7 p.m. game at home Saturday against South Elgin. Ironically, West Aurora defeated visiting South Elgin, 48-10, Friday in the final regular-season game. West Aurora took second place in its final season in the Upstate Eight and finished with an 8-1 record overall. West Aurora led South, 48-3, in the fourth quarter. What does that mean for the school’s fourth first-round game in four seasons?
“Beating anybody twice is difficult and beating them in back-to-back weeks will be very difficult,” said West Aurora head coach Nate Eimer. “We knew there was a possibility of this happening.”
South Elgin finished with a 6-3 overall record. Five of the 10 teams in the Upstate Eight qualified for the playoffs. Four of the five teams in the Northern Illinois Big 12 East, in its final year of competition, qualified for the playoffs, including Yorkville, which was 2-2 in conference and 7-2 overall. See the selected playoff games on page 9.
Yorkville will play host to Dunlap, second in the State last year, at 7 p.m. Friday in a Class 6A game. “The community, as always, is real excited about our team,” Yorkville head coach Dan McGuire said. “This year we have very good players who got varsity experience as sophomores last year. We had a good off-season with good attendance.”
Three of the five teams in DuPage Valley qualified for the playoffs, including champion Naperville Central and District 204 teams Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley.
Waubonsie Valley, 6-3 overall, missed the playoffs last season? The difference this year? “More dedication from the players, greater team bond, and a great work ethic during the season to prove last year (missing the playoffs) was a fluke.” Waubonsie Valley will play at Bolingbrook in Class 8A at 7 p.m. Friday.
Kaneland, 6-3 overall, is one of the four Northern Illinois Big 12 East teams in the playoffs. The Knights will play host to Von Steuben from Chicago in a 6A game at 7 p.m. Saturday. “Our best accomplishment,” said Kaneland head coach Patrick Ryan, “was sharing the conference championship with DeKalb, truly a great reward for a great team effort this season.” Kaneland’s ground game was efficient.
Plano, 5-4, returned to the playoffs this season and will be at Richmond-Burton, 8-1, in Class 4A at 1 p.m. Saturday. Connor Kensel broke the Plano school record for tackles in a season with 141 and Demitri Coker gained 1,153 yards rushing, the 10th time a player rushed for more than 1,000 yards.
Marmion Academy missed the playoffs, however, will play at home at 7 p.m. Friday against Leo in the first round of Chicago Prep Bowl playoffs.
Regular season 9-0 teams included Batavia, Oswego, Glenbard East, and IC Catholic Prep.
• Boys soccer regional champions included Batavia, West Aurora, Naperville North, St. Charles East, Fenton, Hinsdale Central, Benet Academy and Elgin. St. Edward is in the Class 1A State tournament.
• Boys and girls cross country move to sectionals.