Four takeaways from Peoria-area teams in Week 6 of Illinois high school football
More playoff berths secured, Peoria Notre Dame rules at Dozer Park, and IVC gives its coach his first win — plus, we preview Week 7.
Here are some takeaways from Week 6 in Illinois high school football around the Peoria area:
IHSA playoff outlook: Four wins and you’re in
The Illinois High School Association releases its weekly playoff outlook on Sundays, confirming that any four-win team makes the new expanded playoff field of 384 teams. Thirteen Peoria-area four-win teams – El Paso-Gridley, Macomb, Dunlap Morton, Pekin, Metamora, Abingdon-Avon, Illini West, Stark County, Annawan/Wethersfield, South Fulton, Olympia and St. Bede – have already punched their postseason ticket.
Eureka and LaSalle-Peru secured bids with their fourth victory in Week 6. Look for several more local squads to try and pick up win No. 4 in Week 7.
Peoria Notre Dame wins again at Dozer Park
Peoria Notre Dame is the anchor of the annual neutral-site Shamrock Classic game at Dozer Park in Peoria. The home of the Cardinals high-A affiliate, Peoria Chiefs, has been converted for high school football every fall since 2015.
The Irish hosted Danville in the 11th Shamrock on Friday, Sept. 25 and pounded the opponent, 52-22. Aiden Long (134 yards, two touchdowns) and Dallas Harder (128 yards, two TDs) combined for 262 of PND’s 353 rushing yards.
PND is now 9-2-0 all-time in the game.
The Chiefs and Dozer Park will host a second high school football game this fall. Morton and Metamora will clash in a key Week 9 Mid-Illini Conference game Oct. 16 at Dozer.
IVC gets in the win column
Illinois Valley Central picked up its first win in the Cameron Bailliez era.
The Grey Ghosts cruised to a 42-8 win over Illini Prairie Conference visitor Paxton-Buckley-Loda 42-8 on Friday, Sept. 25. This marked the first career victory for the first-year head coach Bailliez.
IVC celebrated its homecoming by jumping out to a 22-0 halftime advantage.
Bailliez became the second first-year coach in two weeks to grab their first win of 2026, joining Peoria Heights head coach Jake Smith, who picked up win No. 1 in Week 5.
Week 7 preview
Peoria teams hit the road, while longstanding Mid-Illini Conference rivals face off and a unique small-school matchup highlight the Week 7 schedule.
Richwoods (at Urbana), Peoria High (at Champaign Central) and Peoria Notre Dame (at Bloomington) are all Big 12 Conference visitors. Manual is the lone River City program staying in town, hosting Champaign Centennial.
Metamora will be at Babcook Field to face league foe Washington. The Panthers have won the last five meetings, outscoring Metamora 174-50 including last season’s 24-0 shutout victory.
Elmwood/Brimfield heads to Chillicothe for a nonconference meeting with Illinois Valley Central. Since 2005, these teams – E/B (16) and IVC (10) – have 26 combined playoff appearances.
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Four takeaways from Peoria-area teams in Week 6 of Illinois high school football
