Mishaps at the IHSA state football championship spark public or private debate

The dominance of Illinois’ private school football programs will be on display this weekend at the 2024 high school state championship games.

Private schools went 4-4 in Friday’s title games at Hancock Stadium in Normal, each defeating public schools and winning the four smallest classifications by a combined score of 193-28 – an average margin of 48-7.

On Saturday, two private schools will meet in the Class 5A championship and two public schools will meet in the Class 6A final. The final two games are public vs. private as Catholic powers Chicago Mount Carmel and Wilmette Loyola Academy are favorites to win the 7A and 8A championships against public schools Batavia and Elmhurst York.

IHSA Championship Coverage: Scores | Predictions | How to watch | Highlights, Summary | Top performers

In Illinois, private or cross-border schools can recruit students who live within 30 miles of the school location, giving programs in metropolitan areas such as Chicago, St. Louis Metro, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield a large pool of students to draw. Public schools draw students from within their geographic boundaries.

Over the years, there have been calls to “fix” the system by, for example, placing private schools in their own playoff brackets or upgrading them to the classes with the largest enrollment, regardless of how many children walk through the halls. Such changes would have to be proposed and supported by member schools before being incorporated into the regulations.

The IHSA uses two methods to counter the advantages of private schools, including enrollment multipliers (where a school’s actual enrollment is multiplied by 1.65) and the introduction of a “success factor” that takes a program’s postseason finishes into account when determining enrollment classifications.

“The current IHSA system is broken.”

Chicago Sun-Times high school reporter Michael O’Brien posted the private vs. public yardage scores and yardage on social media Friday after each of the last three games, drawing dozens of comments and hundreds of interactions .

O’Brien, a longtime supporter of high school sports, turned to X.com again just before halftime of the Class 4A game when another private school, Chicago DePaul College Prep, was heading toward public school Mount Zion A 20-0 final led to a 40-6 victory.

“If someone wanted to design a system that would guarantee elimination in eight high school football state championships, such success might be difficult to achieve,” O’Brien wrote. “There are several major teams moving up in class next year, but the current IHSA system is broken.”

The administrator of the Monticello Football

“STORYLINE OF THE DAY: Thanks to our late touchdown, we closed the gap heading into today’s state championship game,” wrote @SagesFootball. “Private schools – 153 Public schools – 22 Good luck to @mtz_football, 98% of the state is pulling for you.”

“I think that’s a problem.”

The public vs. private debate continues, but only increased late in the playoffs when Loyola quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald said the public school’s semifinal opponent, Frankfort Lincoln-Way East, had not been able to “play against the best competition” during Loyola was put to the test this season in the Chicago Catholic League.

“The guys said it didn’t matter that they weren’t battle tested. And it turned out they hadn’t played a four-quarter game all year. And I think that’s a problem,” the Iowa quarterback told shawlocal.com after a 27-24 win over East. “…Playing against St. Francis, Mount Carmel, Brother Rice and Marist, playing against teams that are playing for semifinals and championships, shows how battle-tested we are.”

And Loyola is far from alone in executing its tough schedule. Overall, private schools make up half of the field for IHSA championship weekend – the most since the playoffs were expanded to eight classes in 2001.

The previous high was seven in the 2018 finals, according to IHSA playoff guru Steve Soucie, pointing to a “significant disparity that will likely be a big talking point heading into championship weekend.”

Soucie said only 49 cross-border or private schools played 11-man football, not counting the Chicago Public League. That’s about 10 percent of the teams across the state. Still, these schools made up 50 percent of state finalists in 2024.

Is help on the way?

The IHSA system will soften the blow by pushing most of these teams up a notch based on enrollment multiplier and success factor, but other traditional private forces are on the sidelines, ready to take their place.

Soucie provided some sassy comments about the private schools’ blunders on Friday, letting fans know that these small school champions will be moving up in class next season.

“Just to clarify, and I know it doesn’t help right now, but Althoff’s last game in 1A is today,” Soucie wrote. “They will be at least a 3A team next season.” Later, as Montini began his stunning victory, he wrote: “The public announcement of this game: Montini will be in 5A next season. I know, I know…”

Finally, when DePaul took the lead in the 4A final, Soucie wrote, “The public announcement of this game: DePaul Prep will likely be a 7A (possibly 8A) team next season.”

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