Edwardsville Qualifies In Class 7A, Marquette in Class 4A, Roxana in 3A In First Round IHSA Football Playoff Pairings

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BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL --- Edwardsville kept its playoff streak alive at 14 in a row, Marquette Catholic qualified for the first time since 2019, and Hardin Calhoun gained the top seed in the southern half of the Class 1A bracket as the Illinois High School Association posted its 2025 first round football playoff pairings in a live TV broadcast Saturday evening.

The 256 teams who made the postseason will start their journeys on Halloween weekend, Oct. 31-Nov. 1, and will climax with the eight championship games on Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 28-29, at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal.

Defending Class 1A champion Belleville Althoff Catholic (4-5 this season) missed out in Class 3A this year, as did Collinsville (4-5), who will miss out on the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Triad (4-5) also will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

In the Class 1A pairings, Calhoun (9-0) will host number 16 Villa Grove (5-4), while Greenfield Northwestern (6-3) captured the eighth seed, and will play host to ninth seeded Sesser Valier (6-3). Winchester West Central (5-4) was seeded number 15, and will travel to face second seed Camp Point Central (9-0), while Dupo (8-1) was given the third seed, and will host 14th seeded Catlin Salt Fork (5-4). Carrollton (6-3) was seeded 11th and will travel to number six Fithian Oakwood (7-2).

Trenton Wesclin (5-4) was seeded 16th in the southern half of Class 2A, and will play at top seed Johnston City (9-0), while Carlinville (7-2) got the number 10 seed, and will play at number seven DuQuoin (8-1).

In Class 3A, Roxana (6-3) was the only area team who qualified, and were seeded 11th in the southern half. The Shells will play at number six West Frankfort (6-3), while in Class 4A, Cahokia (7-2) was seeded ninth, and will play at eighth seed Centralia (7-2), while Columbia (6-3) was seeded 13th, and will play at number four Breese Central (8-1), Highland (6-3) was seeded 12th and plays at fifth seed Freeburg (8-1), Marquette (5-4) was seeded 15th and plays at number two Carterville (8-1), and Waterloo (6-3) was given the number 11 seed, and will play at number six Mt. Zion (8-1), all in the southern half of the bracket.

In the Class 5A pairings, Mascoutah (6-3) was seeded 10th in the southern half, and will play at seventh seed Bloomington (6-3), while in Class 6A, defending champion East St. Louis (6-3) was seeded eighth in the southern half, and will host number nine Plainfield East (6-3). In Class 7A, Edwardsville (4-5) was seeded 32nd and will play top seed Oak Lawn Richards (8-1) in suburban Chicago as the only team from southern Illinois to qualify in the class. In Class 8A, Belleville East (7-2) was seeded 17th and will play at number 16 West Aurora (7-2).

The dates and kickoff times for all the first round games will be announced by the IHSA on Monday, with all subsequent dates, sites, and times for the second round through the semifinals announced in the IHSA office on the Monday before the games. The Class 1A-4A finals will be played Nov. 28, and the Class 5A-8A finals will go on Nov. 29 at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. both days.

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