Five Local Football Teams Playing for a State Title

Six west suburban football teams won their match-ups over the weekend and have earned the right to play for a state title this weekend at the University of Illinois!

In Class 3A, perennial powerhouse IC Catholic in Elmhurst defeated Byron 35-0 and will take on Williamsville Friday afternoon. IC Catholic will be playing for their 4th state title in the past five years and their sixth state championship overall.

In 4A, my alma mater, Providence Catholic beat Wheaton St. Francis in a tight one 17-14 for the opportunity to play for the school’s 11th football state championship. To do so, they’ll have to defeat one of the winningest programs in Illinois football history, Sacred Heart Griffin out of Springfield. The Cyclones were runners-up last year and have five state title of their own. The Celtics haven’t been to a state title game since their last trophy in 2014.

The Class 5A trophy will belong to either Nazareth Academy from LaGrange Park or Peoria High School. Peoria beat Sycamore 76-56 (not a typo!) last week, and is looking for their second state championship since their won their first one in 2016. This year’s only their second trip to a state finals game since they started playing football in 1890! Nazareth, another catholic school powerhouse, is looking for their 4th state trophy in the last 7 years.

Class 6A won’t feature a local team, but Lemont came awful close, losing 32-29 to East St. Louis last weekend.

The Batavia Bulldogs are back in the 7A finals after a 24-7 win over Lake Zurich and will face the second most successful football program in Illinois: the Mt. Carmel Caravan. Batavia High School has been playing football since 1909 and are in their 4th state title game since their first appearance in 2006. A win would give the Bulldogs their 3rd state title. The Caravan is looking to add their 14th state championship trophy, the most recent happening two years ago.

Lincoln-Way East and Loyola will battle for the Class 8A championship. The LWE Griffins defeated Glenbard West last weekend 31-7 and will play for their 4th state title, which is impressive considering the school first opened up in 2001, and has made the playoffs all but two years. Loyola defeated York High from Elmhurst 30-3 to punch their ticket to state.

All state finals games will be broadcast online on NFHS-TV, for a subscription fee, of course. You can watch for free on WCIU-Channel 26 (CW) or WMEU-48.1 (The U)/WCIU 26.2

Friday, November 25 Time
Class 1A: Camp Point Central vs. Lena-Winslow 10:00 AM
Class 2A: St. Teresa vs. Tri-Valley 1:00 PM
Class 3A: Williamsville vs. IC Catholic 4:00 PM
Class 4A: Sacred Heart-Griffin vs. Providence Catholic 7:00 PM
Saturday, November 26 Time
Class 5A: Peoria vs. Nazareth Academy 10:00 AM
Class 6A: East St. Louis vs. Prairie Ridge 1:00 PM
Class 7A: Batavia vs. Mt. Carmel 4:00 PM
Class 8A: Loyola Academy vs. Lincoln-Way East 7:00 PM