Now it really gets tough
If Wheaton Warrenville South hoped to reap an extra reward for claiming its third straight DuPage Valley Conference title, it didn't arrive in the form of the IHSA's football playoff pairings announcement Saturday night.
The Tigers, the 2006 Class 8A champions who are riding a 23-game winning streak, dropped to 7A this year. That doesn't signal a drop in the competition level, however.
WW South, one of 15 DuPage County playoff qualifiers, is an unbeaten top seed in an eight-team southern group featuring six past champions with a combined 13 titles.
The Tigers' run at a sixth state title starts with St. Laurence. It could continue with a possible second-round showdown against St. Rita, last year's 7A champion that entered this season as the state's consensus No. 1 team.
"Just in terms of the history of the schools, our quadrant looks to be very tough," said Tigers coach Ron Muhitch, whose team beat Naperville North 42-41 in triple overtime on Friday to claim the DVC title. "We're riding high. It's a good opportunity to set a new course and a new direction for our team."
The IHSA shifted away from the quadrant system it's relied on for the past five years, instead breaking 3A, 6A and 8A into two brackets seeded from one to 16. To limit travel times in the other five classes, the IHSA split them at least partly into geographical groups of eight.
An interesting twist to the 8A bracket found unbeaten Mt. Carmel, top-ranked by the Associated Press, placed as the top seed in the northern half of the bracket.
The move north, which surprised many area coaches, allowed unbeaten Downers South to anchor the southern bracket as the No. 1 seed.
Naperville North fell to No. 2 in the southern bracket with its loss to WW South. Waubonsie Valley, Hinsdale Central, Neuqua Valley and Naperville Central also reside in the southern 8A bracket while York and Glenbard North were sent north.
"Since I've been here it's been a building process," said Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy, whose team was one of 18 with 5-4 records last year that didn't qualify. "We were disappointed we didn't make it last year, then the seniors used the disappointment from last year as motivation."
Three qualifiers in Class 7A return to the playoffs after brief absences. Willowbrook's in for the first time since 2004, while Wheaton North and Glenbard West are in for the first time since 2003. All three qualified with wins in their regular-season finales.
"I think we're playing our best football right now, and I don't think that's going to change," said Hilltoppers coach Chad Hetlet, whose team beat Hinsdale Central 15-13 Saturday.
Despite Friday's loss to Sycamore, Glenbard South still earned a Class 6A home game against King.
Montini, which fell 13-7 in Saturday's Suburban Catholic Conference showdown against Driscoll, must regroup quickly for a run at the 5A title. The Broncos are the No. 2 seed to Robeson in the northern bracket.
"We're not going to dwell on one game and ruin our dream of a state championship," said Montini coach Chris Andriano.
On the heels of its big win over Montini, Driscoll enters the Class 4A playoffs as an unprecedented six-time defending state champion. The Highlanders are the top seed in the northern bracket.