BLOOMINGTON – Edwardsville was seeded fourth in Class 8A, Collinsville qualified as the 28th seed in Class 7A, East St. Louis was seeded fourth in the south half of Class 6A, Triad won the number 13 seed of the southern half of Class 5A, Cahokia qualified in Class 4A as the 13th seed, Roxana was seeded third in the southern half of Class 3A, Piasa Southwestern is the 13th seed in the southern bracket of Class 2A and Carrollton qualified as the 15th seed in Class 1A, while Greenfield Northwestern was awarded the third seed in the south as local football teams learned their fates when the Illinois High School Association announced the first round 2023 football playoff pairings Saturday night.
A total of 13 Riverbender.com area teams qualified for the 2023 playoffs, which will end with the eight championship games on Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 24-25, returning to Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University, in Bloomington-Normal.
In the Class 1A playoffs, Camp Point Central (9-0) was seeded first in the southern half of bracket and will play 16th seed Bridgeport Red Hill (5-4), while Hardin Calhoun (6-3) was seeded ninth and will play at number eight Heyworth (7-2). Belleville Althoff Catholic (8-1) was seeded fourth and will host number 13 Tuscola (5-4), Carrollton (5-4) was seeded 15th and will play at number two Sesser Vallier, while Winchester West Central was awarded the number 10 seed and will play at number seven Catlin Salt Fork. Greenfield Northwestern (9-0) was seeded third and will host number 14 Nokomis (5-4). In the northern half of the bracket, the number one seed is Lena-Winslow (9-0) and will host number 16 Rockford Lutheran (5-4).
The Class 2A southern bracket pairings will have the top seed Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (9-0) hosting number 16 Quincy Notre Dame Catholic (4-5), with Nashville (6-3) receiving the number eight seed and will host number nine seed Pana (6-3). Piasa Southwestern (5-4) was seeded 13th and plays at fourth-seeded Athens (7-2), while Chester (5-4) was seeded 12th and plays at number five Red Bud (7-2). Trenton Wesclin (5-4) was seeded 15th and travels to number two Shelbyville (8-1), while Vandalia (6-3) picked up the number 10 seed and plays at number seven Lawrenceville (7-2). Breese Mater Dei Catholic (6-3) was seeded 11th and plays at sixth-seed Carmi White County. In the northern half, Seneca (9-0) was seeded first and hosts number 16 Dwight (5-4).
In Class 3A, the top seed in the southern half of the bracket is DuQuoin (9-0) and will host number 16 Monticello (5-4). Greenville (9-0) was seeded number two and will play at home against number 15 Fairfield (5-4), while Litchfield (6-3) was seeded 10th and plays at number seven Stanford Olympia, while Roxana (9-0) was seeded third and hosts number 14 Paris (5-4) and Carlinville was seeded 11th and plays at number six St. Joseph Ogden (7-2). The top seed in the northern half of the bracket was Byron (9-0) and will play host to number 16 Chicago Noble/Hansford.
The Class 4A southern pairings have Rochester (9-0) the top seed and will host number 16 seed Lincoln (5-4). Cahokia (5-4) was seeded 13th and plays at number four Breese Central (7-2), while Freeburg (6-3) was seeded 10th and plays at number seven Charleston (7-2). In the northern bracket, the number one seed is Chicago Dyett (8-1), and will have a home game against 16th-seeded Chicago Agricultural Science (5-4).
In Class 5A’s southern half, a northern school, Morris (9-0) won the top seed and plays host to number 16 Tinley Park (5-4), while Triad (6-3) was seeded 13th and plays at number four Mahomet-Seymour (7-2). Carbondale (7-2) was seeded seventh and hosts number 10 suburban Chicago school Country Club Hills Hillcrest (6-3), while Highland (8-1) won the number three seed and will host number 14 Mt. Vernon (6-3). In the northern half of the bracket, the top seeed is Chicago Walter Payton (9-0) and will host number 16 Sterling (4-5).
The Class 6A southern half has Kankakee (9-0) seeded first and hosting number 16 Midlothian Bremen (5-4), while East St. Louis (7-2) was seeded fourth and will be hosting number 13 Lemont (5-4). Lake Zurich (8-1) was seeded number one in the northern half and hosts number 16 Crystal Lake Central (5-4).
In Class 7A, which has open seeding, the top seed is Normal Community (9-0), giving them a home game against number 32 Summit Argo (5-4), while Collinsville (5-4) qualified for the third straight year, seeded 28th and goes on the road to number five Des Plaines Maine West (9-0). Meanwhile, Quincy (9-0) was seeded third and host number 30 West Chicago (5-4).
In Class 8A, Wilmette Loyola Academy (9-0) was the top seed and plays host to number 32 Plainfield North (4-5), while Edwardsville (8-1) was seeded fourth and hosts number 29 West Aurora (5-4) and Belleville East (7-2) was seeded 11th and hosts number 22 Aurora East (6-3).
The dates and times for the games will be announced Monday afternoon by the IHSA.
