Illinois High School Football Games of the Week — Oct. 18-19

The month of October continues to roll on and Illinois high school football is inching closer and closer to the postseason.

Several ranked teams are set to clash this weekend in what should be an exciting Land of Lincoln slate of games.

The On3 Massey Ratings — which were officially used during the BCS era and have generated college high school sports team rankings since 1995 — rank sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule and margin of victory.

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Below are the Illinois high school football games of the week.

Top high school football games in Illinois

No. 24 Edwardsville at No. 1 East St. Louis — Friday, Oct. 18
Edwardsville, led by elite defensive lineman Iose Epenesa, has dropped just one game this season. The Tigers lost by one point to Indiana’s Lawrence Central in early September and have won every game since. East St. Louis, still undefeated in 2024, hammered Alton 57-0 last Friday to improve to 7-0. The Flyers have the No. 2 offense and No. 3 defense in Illinois and are once again big favorites against Edwardsville after beating the Tigers 27-15 last season. The On3 Massey Ratings project a 41-8 ESL win.

No. 3 Chicago Mount Carmel at No. 20 Fenwick — Friday, Oct. 18
Chicago Mount Carmel bounced back from a 16-13 loss to No. 15 Brother Rice by beating No. 19 Joliet Catholic 35-21 over the weekend. It was the Caravan’s third ranked win of the season, joining wins against No. 13 St. Rita and No. 11 Nazareth. Fenwick’s lone loss came in a 14-13 heartbreaker to No. 19 Joliet Catholic last month. Since then, the Friars have beaten St. Laurence, Montini Catholic and Benet Academy. Mount Carmel beat Fenwick 21-9 in 2023 and is projected to win 42-14 this year, per the Massey Ratings.

No. 5 Lyons at No. 14 York Comm — Friday, Oct. 18
Lyons remained undefeated on the season after beating previously top-10 Downers Grove North 21-20 in a thriller. A win in what was the Illinois game of the week bumped the Lions up four spots in the state rankings earlier this week. After starting the year 5-0, York finally found itself in the loss column after falling to No. 12 Downers Grove North two weeks ago. The Dukes bounced back last weekend with a 24-14 win against Glenbard West. York beat Lyons twice last year — 24-14 in the regular season and 17-14 in the playoffs. York is once again favored this year as a 7-point favorite over the Lions.

Carl Sandburg at No. 9 Naperville Central — Friday, Oct. 18
Carl Sandburg lost to Andrew (Ill.) last weekend to drop to 5-2 on the season, but a statement win against Homewood-Flossmoor earlier this year has kept the Eagles in the Illinois top 50. Naperville Central is still perfect in 2024 after a 56-7 blowout victory against Meatea Valley last Friday. Central struggles on offense — just No. 44 in Illinois — but has a top-10 defense in the state. The On3 Massey Ratings predict a 37-20 Naperville Central win.