Three local football teams will head to DeKalb seeking a state championship.
The IHSA announced on Nov. 29 that the Class 7A and 8A title games will be played at Northern Illinois University’s Huskie Stadium on Dec. 3.
Brother Rice and St. Rita will meet in the 7A final at 3 p.m., with Mount Carmel facing Oswego in the 8A final at 6 p.m.
That will wrap up a season extended by the first state-championship game postponements in IHSA football history.
The Class 5A through 8A finals, originally scheduled for Nov. 29, were postponed on Nov. 28 when Illinois State University announced its campus would be closed the next day because of a winter storm projected to dump as much as a foot of snow on the Bloomington-Normal area.
Two of the games were rescheduled for Dec. 2 at Illinois State’s Hancock Stadium: Providence vs. St. Francis in Class 5A at 3 p.m. and East St. Louis vs. Fenwick in 6A at 6 p.m.
All four midweek games will be televised by WCIU, Ch. 26.
The IHSA said Nov. 28 the Class 7A and 8A games would be rescheduled for Dec. 2 or 3, without confirming a location.
On Nov. 29, IHSA executive director Craig Anderson said a scheduling issue at ISU led to the move to NIU.
“Illinois State was committed to hosting all eight state championship games if possible, but could not host the 7A and 8A title games until Thursday due to a scheduling conflict on Wednesday,” Anderson said in a statement. “We did not want to further impact the schedules and routines of our competing teams, so NIU’s willingness to step up, especially given the geography of the competing teams, made this an easy decision.”
NIU formerly hosted the state finals in alternating years in a rotation with the University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium.
“We had a a wonderful state final experience in DeKalb over the course of a decade and have a relationship of hosting IHSA State Series events on campus that dates back even further,” Anderson said. “NIU’s partnership with the IHSA and support of high school student-athletes has proven to be second to none.”
The four state finals set for Nov. 28 went on as scheduled. Lena-Winslow in 1A, Wilmington in 2A, Byron in 3A and Montini in 4A won titles.
Mount Carmel is seeking its fourth consecutive state title and state-record 17th overall. The Caravan won the last four Class 7A championships.
Brother Rice is chasing its second title and first since 1981, while St. Rita is looking for its third championship and first since 2006.