Class 5A
No. 24 Providence at No. 18 Kankakee
1 p.m. Saturday: Kankakee (7-2) has only one loss on the field — 22-14 vs. No. 1 Lincoln-Way East; the Kays had to forfeit a win against Lincoln-Way West for using an ineligible player. Senior Phillip Turner is an electric dual-threat quarterback who has 1,691 total yards and 22 touchdowns with five interceptions. Sophomore Davion White is a playmaker on both sides of the ball. Providence (7-3) has a prolific offense led by running backs Broden Mackert and Brayden McKay along with quarterback Dominic Vita. The Celtics are 2-3 since interim coach Adam Nissen took over when Tyler Plantz was fired. They played eight playoff qualifiers in the regular season, losing to Mount Carmel, Nazareth and St. Ignatius.
Class 8A
Barrington at No. 14 Sandburg
7 p.m. Friday: Barrington (6-4) has won six in a row after starting 0-4 against Lyons, Lincoln-Way Central, Naperville North and Hersey. Lamar Osterhues is one of the area’s top running backs with 1,282 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. Sandburg (7-2) is looking for its first playoff win in 16 years. The Eagles can move the ball on the ground with Army recruit Quinn Durkin or through the air with quarterback Sean Ruisz and tight end Lucas Matykiewicz (Northern Illinois).
Class 8A
Glenbrook South
at No. 19 New Trier
6:30 p.m. Friday: This is the teams’ second matchup in three weeks; New Trier won the first 35-28, also at home. Junior quarterback Liam Kearney of Glenbrook South (6-4) had 280 total yards and two passing touchdowns in the earlier loss. New Trier quarterback Jackie Ryder, a Purdue commit, has accounted for 2,006 total yards while playing just 26 quarters as the Trevians (8-1) won six games by 32 or more points. Their only loss was 35-28 to Maine South.
Class 7A
St. Laurence at Plainfield South
1 p.m. Saturday: A year after reaching the Class 6A semifinals, St. Laurence (4-6) got into this year’s expanded playoff field as a 39th seed and went on the road to beat Belleville East 25-16 last week. Noah Taylor passed for one touchdown and ran for another for the Vikings, who have Illinois-bound linebacker Sean Rice back from an ankle injury. Plainfield South (8-1) won the Southwest Prairie East and lost only to Oswego. Sophomore quarterback Armani Ford has completed 64% of his passes for 2,429 yards and 19 touchdowns with four interceptions for the Cougars, whose last playoff win was in 2010.
Class 6A
Joliet Catholic at
Wheaton-Warrenville South
7 p.m. Friday: Joliet Catholic (6-4) has one of the area’s best two-way players in senior linebacker/running back Derrick Pomatto, who has 82 tackles and 732 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns. The Hilltoppers closed the regular season with losses to Mount Carmel and IC Catholic before beating Bradley-Bourbonnais 44-3 in the opening round last week. Junior quarterback AJ Rogers has passed for more than 2,000 yards for Wheaton-Warrenville South (6-3), whose only loss since mid-September was 27-24 to Batavia.