The Road to Champaign: Nearly three inches of rain at Van Metre Field
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[As sunset fell on Du Quoin, the weather system that produced almost three inches of rain Friday was quickly moving out of Southern Illinois. A few streaks of sunshine could even be seen as trick-or-treaters made their way through town.
Van Metre Field, site of Saturday's Class 3A opener between Du Quoin and Hillsboro, remained tarped -goal line to goal line and hash mark to hash mark-in advance of a 1 p.m. kickoff.
The tarp will be removed shortly after 8 a.m., about thirty minutes prior to the expected arrival of a helicopter to help dry the field even further.
Updated weather forecasts now call for cloudy skies-with little chance of lingering rain-and game time temperatures in the lower 50's. As tailgaters arrive just after breakfast, expect a chilly nip in the air with temps slowly warming from around 45 degrees.
Here's the weekend schedule of state football playoff games involving schools from the immediate area.
CLASS 3A FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS
(Seeds precede school name)
Upper Bracket
#9 Fairfield (7-2) at #8 Breese (Central) (7-2), Sat. 2:30 p.m.
#13 Anna (A.-Jonesboro) (6-3) at #4 Carterville (8-1), Sat. 1:00 p.m.
#15 Nashville (5-4) at #2 Sesser (S.-Valier) [Coop] (9-0), Sat. 1:00 p.m.
#11 Hillsboro (6-3) at #6 Du Quoin (8-1), Sat. 1:00 p.m.
CLASS 2A FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS
(Seeds precede school name)
Upper Bracket
#9 Red Bud (7-2) at #8 Chester (7-2), Sat. 1:00 p.m.
#15 Johnston City (5-4) at #2 Petersburg (PORTA) (8-1), Sat. 2:00 p,m.
CLASS 4A FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS
(Seeds precede school name)
Upper Bracket
#9 Mahomet (M.-Seymour) (7-2) avs. #8 Mt. Carmel (7-2), Sat. 3:30 at Evansville, In. Central Stadium
#13 Harrisburg (6-3) at #4 Quincy (Notre Dame) (9-0), Sat. 2:00 p.m.
#14 Freeburg (6-3) at #3 Mt. Zion (9-0), Fri. 7:00 p.m.
#11 Metropolis (Massac County) [Coop] (7-2) at #6 Breese (Mater Dei) (8-1), Fri. 7:00 p.m.
CLASS 5A FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS
(Seeds precede school name)
Upper Bracket
#16 Carbondale (H.S.) (5-4) at #1 Springfield (Sacred Heart-Griffin) (9-0), Sat. 4:00 p.m @ Illinois State University
#13 Decatur (MacArthur) (6-3) at #4 Marion (H.