Eight Chicago Public League high school football teams will not make it to the Illinois high school football playoffs that begin next weekend due to the ongoing Chicago teachers strike. Because Chicago Public Schools canceled classes on Thursday, teams were not allowed to practice, thus meaning they weren’t able to play this weekend’s games.
Under Illinois High School Association rules, teams that miss seven straight days of practices may not play a game until after holding three consecutive days of practice. Thursday was the seventh straight day (excluding Sunday) that teams hadn’t practiced.
Simeon, ranked No. 5 in the latest High School Football America Illinois Top 10, along with Chicago Military-Bronzeville and Phoenix won’t make the postseason because they will not have played at least eight games. Simeon owns a 6-1 record with its only loss coming against St. Frances Academy (Maryland), the No. 3 team in the latest High School Football America 100 national rankings.
Also affected are Back of the Yards, King, Solorio, Vocational and Young. All four teams are 4-4 and needed a win this weekend to get to five wins, which qualifies a team for the playoffs, if they have enough playoff points. All four could still qualify if they have enough playoffs points, but that’s highly unlikely with only four victories. Clark, Hyde Park, Marine, Morgan Park and Sullivan have all won five games, but now they are waiting to see if they have enough playoff points.
Ten Chicago Public League teams — Agricultural Science, Amundsen, Carver, Dunbar, Harlan, Kenwood, Mather, Orr, Payton, Phillips — have already qualified for the postseason, because they’ve won at least six games, but if they can’t return to the practice field for three straight practices, they won’t be able to compete in the postseason.
That means that the teams that qualify for the playoffs must hold practices October 30, 31 and November 1 to meet IHSA’s football practice rules.
The IHSA will announce its first round playoff pairing on Saturday.
