Week 9 always provides plenty of drama in high school football. This season, there are nearly 30 area teams hoping to pick up a fifth victory and a spot in the Illinois High School Association state playoffs, the field and brackets for which will be announced live on television Saturday night (8 p.m., The U, streamed on NFHS Network).
The rules are confusing, but here’s a quick refresher: Only 256 teams qualify — a set number.
Teams that win conferences of six or more teams are in automatically. The remaining schools are decided in this order: by total wins, by combined wins of all opponents and by combined wins of all defeated opponents. There are various tiebreakers.
Six wins or more guarantee a spot. Five-win teams are on the bubble. Occasionally a four-win team will sneak in.
Three preseason-ranked teams are 4-4 and still fighting to get in. Here’s a look at where they stand:
Nazareth
After winning the Class 5A state title last season, the Roadrunners returned the majority of that team this year, includling starting quarterback Logan Malachuk and defensive end Gabe Kaminski, one of the top recruits in the state. So their early-season struggles were unexpected. They were ranked No. 5 in the preseason, then went out and lost their first four games, three of which were against ranked teams — Kankakee, York, IC Catholic — as part of a brutal schedule.
But York, a much bigger school from Class 8A, was the only team to blow the Roadrunners out.
And now Nazareth has ripped off four consecutive wins to get back into the conversation. It hosts St. Francis (6-2) on Friday.
Coach Tim Racki’s still-young team has been through this before, starting the season 2-4 last year before going on to win the title. The Roadrunners were also 0-3 in 2021 before eventually reaching the quarterfinals. They have enough playoff points to sneak in with four wins, depending on other results.
Providence
First-year coach Tyler Planz and the Celtics were the surprise story of the playoffs last year, squeakin in with five wins and then rolling to the 5A title game, where they lost 44-20 to Sacred Heart-Griffin. Eleven starters returned and they opened this season ranked No. 19.
It has been a very solid season, with losses coming against Joliet Catholic, St. Laurence, Carmel and Mount Carmel, all ranked this season. The three local teams Providence has defeated (Fenwick, DePaul Prep, Montini) are still in the playoff hunt and, like Nazareth, have enough playoff points to possibly make it in with four wins.
On Friday, Providence will host Benet, which is also 4-4 and fighting for its playoff life.
Brother Rice
The Crusaders opened the season No. 12 and probably stuck around in the Super 25 for too long — but that’s because they have one of the area’s best wins, a 10-7 victory against No. 5 Maine South in Park Ridge.
Their four losses were against quality teams — Marist, Loyola, Mount Carmel, Nazareth. Friday night’s game against rival St. Rita will be special.
Navy recruit Randall Nauden is one of the area’s best running backs, and Brother Rice is expected to rely on him heavily in the crucial matchup.
