Goss: Even dozen area teams should qualify for 2017 football playoffs

A question always asked at this juncture in a high school football season is how many area teams will make the playoffs.

From this vantage point, with three weeks remaining in the regular season, seven definitely are in and another five will be. Then there are a few that are long shots but mathematically still alive.

The IHSA does not say teams clinch until they have six victories because you don’t know for sure how many five-win teams will qualify and how many will be left out. However, we are basing our beliefs on history and how many playoffs points are likely to be needed this year to get in with a 5-4 record.

Following is a breakdown on how it looks for our area teams. The enrollment breakdown for classes is what currently is on the IHSA web site.

Class 3A (enrollment 411 through 548): Peotone (5-1, 32 playoff points, 530 enrollment) is in, with the only question whether the Blue Devils might bump up to 4A. Wilmington (5-1, 26, 466) needs one more victory to be absolutely sure. Seneca (3-3, 27, 424) and Dwight (3-3, 21, 453) have work to do.

Class 4A (548 to 783): Coal City (5-1, 29, 636) is in.

Class 5A (788 to 1,347): Morris (6-0, 25, 844) is in, probably as a small 5A qualifier. Joliet Catholic (2-4, 33, 1,092.30) must win its last three, and those include a date Friday night with Benet Academy at Memorial Stadium and a Week 9 visit to Marist. The Hilltoppers’ backs are to the wall.

Class 6A (1,351 to 1,849): Lemont (5-1, 30, 1,361) is in. Providence (4-2, 39, 1,706.10) will be in with one more victory. The remaining opponents for the Celtics, who lead the state in playoffs points, are 4-2 Fenwick, 5-1 Loyola and 4-2 Mount Carmel.

Class 7A (1,855 to 2,302): Lincoln-Way Central (5-1, 25, 2,157) may need one more victory considering the 25 points the Knights have currently. Lincoln-Way West (4-2, 30, 1,898) and Plainfield North (4-2, 26, 2,302) also need one more win. Plainfield Central (3-3, 27, 2,070) must win two of its last three, with Saturday’s homecoming game against Oswego East and the Week 9 battle with Oswego among the remaining. The Wildcats would be well served to get the homecoming victory.

Class 8A (2,314 to 8,186): Lincoln-Way East (6-0, 33, 2,916) and Bolingbrook (5-1, 30, 3,472) are in. Joliet West (4-2, 26, 3,271) should be OK with one more victory and has Minooka, Joliet Central and Plainfield North remaining. Plainfield South must win two and has the gauntlet of Plainfield North, Oswego and Minooka left to play.

So for now, we are looking at 12 teams in and hoping a few others can figure out a way.

• Dick Goss can be reached at dgoss@shamedia.com.