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Week 5 is officially when teams pass over the halfway point of the season. It’s also the first point where teams, if still undefeated, can secure likely playoff berths. On the other hand, it can be a pivot week for teams that struggled out of the gate and need a victory to stay on course.
There are a number of those to zero in on, especially among those teams that currently have 2-2 records,. Winners of those games have a much rosier postseason outlook. Teams that drop to 2-3 likely will need to win three of their last four to get in.
Here’s some key matchups to look for in Week 5:
Phillips (2-2) vs. Simeon (2-2) at Gately Stadium; 4 p.m., Saturday: The Chicago Public League’s unofficial “Super Bowl” didn’t get contested in the spring as CPL teams didn’t play any games outside of their respective divisions. The game will be contested this season without the primary architect of Phillips’ rise to prominence. Head coach Troy McCallister departed the program to take the job at Sandburg. Simeon plays in a much deeper division of the CPS, so the Wolverines will likely need the win a bit more to secure postseason standing.
Lincoln-Way East (3-1) at Bolingbrook (4-0); 6 p.m., Friday: One of the rare occasions in this rivalry where Bolingbrook enters the game with a better record than Lincoln-Way East. And although Bolingbrook has played very well to start the season, this will be a real test to see if the Raiders can keep from wilting against the much deeper Griffins roster.
Prairie Ridge (4-0) at Cary-Grove (4-0); 1 p.m., Saturday: There have been some titanic battles between these two programs in recent seasons. It is hard to see a scenario where there won’t be another quality chapter added Saturday. Historically this game goes a long way toward deciding who earns a high seed in the Class 6A north bracket. With both teams sitting at 4-0, that’s likely to be the case once again.
Minooka (2-2) at Oswego (2-2); 7p.m, Friday: Remember those 2-2 games we were talking about? Here’s one of them that is likely to prove critical to both of these team’s fortunes. This is typically the marquee matchup of the SouthWest Prairie Conference race, with the winner usually taking home the hardware. But this one has two teams simply trying to stay afloat as the loser will drop to 2-3 with several difficult league games remaining for each of them.
Maroa-Forsyth (4-0) at Williamsville (3-1); 7 p.m., Friday: It’s hard to find a year where this contest doesn’t feature at least one of the better teams in their classification. Maroa is usually in the 2A mix and Williamsville always seems to make a deep run in 3A. In the spring season, Williamsville really flexed its muscles in the victory and Maroa will likely be chomping at the bit for another crack at the Bullets.
Other games of note: Yorkville at Plainfield North; Springfield at Rochester; Hononegah at Boylan; Breese Mater Dei at Quincy Notre Dame; Glenbard North at Batavia; Crete-Monee at Joliet Catholic; East St. Louis at O’Fallon.
Number of undefeated teams: 66
Number of teams with three wins or better: 185
Number of games pairing a 4-0 vs. 4-0: 7 (Batavia vs. Glenbard North; Breese Mater Dei vs. Quincy Notre Dame; Cary Grove vs. Prairie Ridge; Chicago Mount Carmel vs. St. Ignatius; Kewanee vs. Princeton; Glenbard East vs. South Elgin; Pana vs. Piasa Southwestern).