IHSA playoff projection for Week 8: What Will County (and beyond) teams need to do to make the field of 256

With two weeks remaining in the IHSA football regular season and the postseason looming for the top 256 teams, here are where the Herald-News area’s football teams stand coming down the home stretch.

Locked in

Lincoln-Way East (7-0)

The top-ranked team in Class 8A has an excellent chance to be the top seed in the Class 8A bracket come Selection Saturday if the Griffins can win out. It won’t be easy, though, with a visit to 5-2 Andrew followed by a home regular-season finale against also-undefeated Naperville Central. L-W East has run its consecutive playoff streak to 24.

Seneca (7-0)

With a third straight playoff appearance locked up, the Fighting Irish will be aiming to finish off their third consecutive undefeated regular season and – more importantly – lock in a very high seed. The road isn’t easy, though, as Seneca has a return bout with Marquette (5-2) and a visit from Durand-Pecatonica (6-1).

Wilmington (7-0)

While they have an Illinois Central Eight Conference showdown with also-unbeaten Manteno in Week 8 followed by a Week 9 home game with Streator remaining, the defending Class 2A state champion Wildcats have their 28th straight playoff berth locked up.

Minooka (6-1)

Despite a Week 6 loss to Yorkville and an upcoming Week 8 visit to 7-0 Oswego remaining, the Indians have already secured their place in the field of 256. Beating Oswego and/or a win at home in Week 9 against 3-4 Bolingbrook would strongly strengthen Minooka’s hopes of a first-round home game.

Sitting comfortably

Plainfield South (5-2)

The Southwest Prairie East’s automatic bid is still in play for the conference-leading Cougars, who face winless Plainfield Central in Week 8 and one-win Joliet Central to close the regular season. That is good news, as Plainfield South’s extremely low number of 17 playoff points – the combined wins of opponents on the schedule and the IHSA’s first tiebreaker after season record – won’t do it any favors in terms of securing an at-large bid nor when it comes time for seeding.

Morris (5-2)

With its demanding Interstate 8 Conference schedule and tough nonconference slate including 5-2 Coal City, 3-4 Joliet West, 6-1 Peoria High and 6-1 Byron Center (Michigan), it’s hard to envision a scenario where Morris – already with 41 playoff points – doesn’t make its fifth consecutive playoff appearance and 38th in program history. Nevertheless, it will try to lock it up for certain down the stretch with road games at Sycamore (7-0) and Byron Center (6-1).

Coal City (5-2)

Last week’s loss to Wilmington likely ended the Coalers’ hopes of winning the ICE’s automatic playoff bid, but they’re still in reasonably good shape with a respectable-if-not-great number of playoff points (29) ahead of a Week 8 visit from 4-3 Herscher and a Week 9 home game against 7-0 Manteno. A win in either would make it official.

Joliet Catholic (5-3)

The Hilltoppers haven’t been able to string together wins against a brutal schedule. That same brutal schedule, however, has led to them holding an impressive 41 playoff points with more to come and already five wins in their pocket taking into account Week 8′s forfeit from De La Salle. A win at Providence in Week 9 would provide a huge shot in the arm for JCA’s playoff seeding, already favorable for its win total thanks to all those playoff points.

On the threshold

Lincoln-Way Central (4-3)

A win this Friday at also 4-3 Waubonsie Valley would give the Knights the Southwest Valley Green title and a fifth victory. L-W Central’s not-bad-but-not-great 30 playoff points through seven weeks should get the Knights in according to Steve Soucie’s projections if they can score win No. 5 either against Waubonsie Valley or home in Week 9 against 3-4 Rich Township.

Lincoln-Way West (4-3)

Already with 40 and counting, the Warriors have all the playoff points they would need to get in with five wins – and quite possibly even enough when it’s all said and done to get in with four. They can make it a near certainty, though, with a win this week at 3-4 Lockport or a Week 9 home victory over 6-1 Bradley-Bourbonnais.

Lemont (4-3)

Lemont can lock up both the South Suburban Blue title and its corresponding automatic playoff bid with games against the other two teams at the top of the standings – 5-2 Oak Forest and 4-3 Hillcrest – in the coming weeks. A win in either, though, should be enough to get Lemont and its robust number of playoff points (39, highest in the conference) into the field of 256. A four-win berth isn’t out of the question.

Peotone (4-3)

The Blue Devils snapped a three-game losing streak last week and, with a solid 34 playoff points, likely set themselves up to earn an at-large bid with a win either this week (at 0-7 Lisle) or in Week 9 (home vs. 4-3 Herscher). Win them both and Peotone is in for certain for the fifth consecutive season.

Dwight/Gardner-S. Wilmington (4-3)

The Trojans look to be in relatively good shape to secure a second straight playoff appearance if they can score a fifth win in either this Friday’s home game with 0-7 Alton Marquette or Week 9′s trip to 5-2 Ottawa Marquette. Dwight/GSW’s pedestrian number of playoff points (28) thanks to playing three still-winless opponents would make it awfully tough to get in with four wins and perhaps even a little nerve-racking on Selection Saturday with five.

Work to do

Joliet West (3-4)

While the Southwest Prairie East title and its corresponding automatic playoff bid likely slipped out of the Tigers’ paws with Week 6′s 13-point loss to Plainfield South, Joliet West is in decent position to return to the Class 8A field for the second straight year. Joliet West has winnable games with 2-5 Plainfield East and 0-7 Plainfield Central remaining, though its little-on-the-low-side 26 playoff points could make a five-win bid a close thing if the cutoff breaks unexpectedly high.

Plainfield North (3-4)

The Tigers are 3-4, and so are the remaining two teams on their schedule, Bolingbrook and Yorkville. Already with 39 playoff points in their pocket, the Tigers would be virtual shoo-ins if they can get to five victories and strong candidates to sneak in with four wins if the projected 10-12 four-win squads make the cut.

Bolingbrook (3-4)

The Raiders’ 33 playoff points are good but not great in terms of separating them from the pack of teams hoping for at-large bids. A win at home against 3-4 Plainfield North in Week 8 followed by a road upset of 6-1 Minooka looks to be Bolingbrook’s only likely path to Week 10.

Lockport (3-4)

The Porters have their work cut out for them with a pair of 4-3 teams – Lincoln-Way West and Homewood-Flossmoor – remaining on the schedule. If they can win both, their sizable number of playoff points (38) should get them in. If they win one, they’d be left rooting for a forgiving cutoff for 4-5 teams, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Providence Catholic (3-4)

The Celtics have a very good but not spectacular 34 playoff points heading into Week 8, meaning they probably need to either win out or hope for a historically low threshold for qualification to avoid missing the IHSA postseason for just the sixth time in the past 41 full seasons. Coming up are two home games: vs. 2-5 Marian Catholic and 5-3 Joliet Catholic.

Hail Mary time

Plainfield East (2-5)

Plainfield East has a pair of potentially winnable games – hosting 3-4 Joliet West and visiting 2-5 Romeoville – remaining, and as of this writing up to possibly 10 4-5 teams are projected to slip into the postseason. That’s the good news. The bad news is the Bengals’ pedestrian number of playoff points (27), which will need to climb quite a bit for Plainfield East to be one of those 4-5s sneaking in.

Romeoville (2-5)

With 24 playoff points, the Spartans are in slightly worse shape than Plainfield East, though they too have a pair of potential wins remaining with 1-6 Joliet Central and aforementioned Plainfield East remaining. The 4-5 cutoff would have to come in historically low for Romeoville to sniff an at-large bid.