Illinois High School Football Rankings: Top 25 Teams — Oct. 27

The Illinois high school football rankings have updated as teams around the Land of Lincoln are getting set to kick off the 2024 postseason.

East St. Louis and Lincoln-Way East hold steady at Nos. 1 and 2 heading into the first weekend of November.

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 is the updated Illinois On3 Massey Ratings top 25, as of Oct. 27.

1. East St. Louis

East St. Louis lost for the first time over the weekend, but it is hard to find fault in the Flyers’ performance. ESL went on the road to nationally-ranked IMG Academy, a program stacked with Power 4 talent, and lost 14-13 in overtime. The Flyers are the top team in its Class 6A region and will play Springfield this weekend.

2. Lincoln-Way East

Lincoln-Way East closed out the regular season with a 28-7 win over No. 11 Naperville Central. The Griffons finished with a perfect record and the No. 1 seed in Class 8A. They will play Niles West in the first round of the playoffs.

3. Loyola Academy (+1)

Loyola Academy won perhaps the biggest game of the year in Illinois over the weekend, taking down Chicago Mount Carmel 31-7 on the road. The Ramblers finished 7-2 with losses to No. 1 East St. Louis and No. 25 St. Francis but wins against Mount Carmel and No. 9 Brother Rice. Loyola will play Belleville East.

4. Mount Carmel (-1)

As we mentioned above, Mount Carmel fell to Loyola 31-7 — its first loss since Oct. 4 against No. 9 Brother Rice. The Caravan finish with a 6-3 record, but have wins over No. 12 St. Rita, No. 14 Nazareth Academy, No. 18 Joliet Catholic and No. 23 Fenwick. They will play on the road at Park Harlem to open the postseason.

5. Lyons

Lyons finished the year perfect with a 50-6 blowout win over Proviso East. It will look to keep that perfect record intact this weekend against Joliet West. The Lions have two ranked wins this year over No. 10 Downers Grove North and No. 20 York Comm.

6. Cary-Grove

Also undefeated, Cary-Grove hammered Dundee-crown 55-8 ahead of its first-round matchup with Chicago Senn this week. The Trojans have top-50 wins against Harry D. Jacobs and Prairie Ridge.

7. Batavia

Batavia is 8-1 heading into the playoffs, its lone loss coming on Oct. 4 to No. 16 Geneva. The Bulldogs have won three straight against St. Charles East, Wheaton Warrenville South and Glenbard North. Now, they’ll look to keep that streak going against Collinsville.

8. Marist

Marist lost its only game of the year back in September in a 31-30 heartbreaker to No. 18 Joliet Catholic. Since then, the RedHawks have been on a tear, winning five straight games. Last weekend, Marist shut out Notre Dame College Prep 34-0. It will open the postseason with Glenbrook South.

9. Brother Rice (+5)

Brother Rice jumped up in the rankings after beating St. Ignatius 24-7 over the weekend. The Crusaders’ three losses came by one possession each against No. 8 Marist, No. 12 St. Rita and No. 3 Loyola. Two weeks after that loss to Loyola, Brother Rice knocked off No. 4 Chicago Mount Carmel. This week, the Crusaders are set to face No. 23 Fenwick on the road.

10. Downers Grove North (+2)

Downers Grove North beat Hinsdale Central 42-28 to finish with an 8-1 record. The Trojans split their ranked matchups this year — beating No. 20 York but falling to No. 5 Lyons the following week. They will play Wheaton Warrenville South this weekend.

Teams 11-25 in latest Illinois High School Football Rankings

11. Naperville Central
12. St. Rita (+1)
13. St Charles North (+5)
14. Nazareth Academy (-4)
15. Oswego (+1)

16. Geneva Community (-7)
17. Sycamore
18. Joliet Catholic Academy (+1)
19. Palatine (+4)
20. York Comm

21. Naperville North
22. Barrington (-7)
23. Fenwick (-1)
24. Maine South (+1)
25. St. Francis (NR)

Dropped from rankings: Edwardsville