July 05, 2025
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Week 8 games to watch: Small group of games will have big impact on top half of field

Only three games pit undefeated teams against one another

By Steve Soucie
Glenbard West's Filip Maciorowski (8) stretches for an extra yard after making a catch agains Downers Grove North during a game on Oct. 8, 2022 at Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn.

Glenbard West's Filip Maciorowski stretches for an extra yard after making a catch agains Downers Grove North during a Week 7 game in Glen Ellyn. (Jon Cunningham for Shaw Local)

There will be nearly 250 games contested in Illinois involving playoff eligible teams this weekend.

Just 11 of those games will involve a pair of teams that have incurred less than two losses this season.

With so few games of impact at the top of the field, it’s easy to see how those games’ outcomes will have a significant effect on who earns either top seeds or extremely high seeds with victories in the pivotal Week 8 games.

The majority of the 95 teams that have already clinched playoff berths don’t appear to have all that daunting of opposition this week. But they likely all won’t go unscathed, further trimming the list of teams with zero and one losses.

Why is this significant? Zero- and one-loss teams have almost never been denied a home game in the opening round of the playoffs. Also, considering how losses seem to be piling up with almost every team in the state, maintaining one’s position in that exclusive club is almost certain to guarantee a very high seed come playoff pairings night.

Let’s look at a few of the Week 8 matchups of interest:

Lockport (5-2) at Lincoln-Way East (7-0), 7 p.m. Friday: A few weeks ago it didn’t look like much would materialize in this rivalry matchup. Lockport was reeling after back-to-back losses to Homewood-Flossmoor and Sandburg and seemed to be in danger of even missing the chance of defending its 2021 Class 8A championship. But back-to-back wins over Lincoln-Way West and Bolingbrook have put the Porters back on track. None of this may matter when trying to topple vaunted Lincoln-Way East, the only team to defeat Lockport last season. The Griffins have been taking apart opponents with incredible precision.

Simeon (7-0) vs. Morgan Park (7-0), 1 p.m. Saturday: Two of the remaining three undefeated playoff-eligible teams in the Chicago Public League lock horns here (Hyde Park is the other). Simeon has thwarted all challengers this season using a lethal combination of WR Malik Elzy and RB Andre Crews. Morgan Park has had a return to glory this season as a group of battle-tested veterans seem to be putting its best foot forward right now.

Lyons (6-1) at Glenbard West (6-1), 1:30 p.m. Saturday: York saddled both of these teams with their lone loss of the season. Both would like to still give themselves to possibly share the conference title should the Dukes falter in the last two weeks. While both have already clinched playoff berths, seeds matter more than any other class in those seeded 1-to-32, which Lyons and Glenbard West will both land in during the postseason.

Sterling (6-1) at Moline (6-1), 7 p.m. Friday: This has been a collision course game for both of these Western Big Six teams all season with both teams taking narrow losses for their only blemish. Both have rambled rather easily through their conference schedules and it seems fitting that they square off late in the season to decide who will hoist the league’s hardware.

Edwardsville (6-1) at East St. Louis (5-2), 7 p.m. Friday: This tends to be the lone Illinois-based opponent East St. Louis actually has to tangle with a little bit. East St. Louis’ two losses are two out-of-state nationally-ranked opponents so the won-loss record isn’t a fair indicator of the Flyers’ strength. A slightly problematic trend for Edwardsville is that its lone loss came in a 32-31 loss to O’Fallon in Week 4. East St. Louis trounced O’Fallon 60-21 the following week.

Other games of note: White County at Johnston City, 7 p.m. Friday; Hersey at Elk Grove Village, 7:30 p.m. Friday; Wheaton St. Francis at Riverside-Brookfield, 7:15 p.m. Friday; Shelbyville at Decatur St. Teresa, 7 p.m. Friday; Belvidere North at Harlem, 7 p.m. Friday; North Mac at Pana, 7 p.m. Friday; Minooka at Yorkville, 7 p.m. Friday; Peoria at Normal Community West, 7 p.m. Friday; Wheaton North at Geneva, 7 p.m. Friday; Eureka at Tri-Valley, 7 p.m. Friday; Guilford at Boylan, 7 p.m. Friday; Murphysboro at Benton, 7 p.m. Friday; Glenbard East at Glenbard South, 7 p.m. Friday; St. Rita at Providence, 7:30 p.m. Friday; Reed-Custer at Coal City, 7 p.m. Friday.