Illinois High School Football Playoff Brackets, Schedule Unveiled

WILMETTE, IL — High school football playoffs in Illinois begin this week, with defending champion Loyola Academy aiming to capture a fifth state title.

The Illinois High School Association on Monday released the dates and game times for the first round in each of the sport's eight classes, having unveiled the pairings over the weekend.

With a 9-0 record and a No. 1 seed in Class 8A, Loyola starts its playoff run Saturday at 1 p.m. in Wilmette, where the Ramblers will host the Tigers of Plainfield North High School.

This year marks the first playoff run for head coach Beau Desherow, who was hired in March to succeed John Holecek following his 17 years in charge of the program.

The higher seeded team always hosts in the first round of the 32-team knockout tournament. After that, the games are played at the field of whichever team has hosted fewer games. If both teams have had the same number of home games, the team with the higher seed hosts.

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If Loyola come out on top over Plainfield North (4-5) the Ramblers are set to play the winner of Friday's game between Palatine High School (6-3) and Neuqua Valley High School (6-3) of Naperville.

Their quarterfinal opponent would then be either Huntley High School (8-1), Joliet West High School (8-1), St. Ignatius (6-3) of Chicago or Niles West High School (6-3) of Skokie.

See the full Class 8A bracket below, or check out all classes and matchups via the IHSA website.