IHSA Class 3A State Football Playoffs: Du Quoin draws Hillsboro

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[At mid-evening Saturday, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) released its state football playoff pairings.

And, for the 26th time, the Du Quoin Indians are part of the Class 3A bracket.

And, for what seems like the ump-teenth time, the IHSA has again thrown the 3A field more than its share of bracket-placing curveballs.

Du Quoin, 8-1, drew the #6 seed in the upper bracket of the 32-team field and will host 6-3 Hillsboro in a first round game next Saturday. Starting time, which will be officially determined Monday, is expected to be 1 o'clock.

The Indians and Hilltoppers have met two other times in the state playoff series. Du Quoin won in 1988 48-13 with Hillsboro taking a 14-13 victory a dozen year later (2000). Both games were played at Hillsboro. Most pre-pairing prognosticators had Du Quoin most likely to host either Breese Central or Fairfield.

"We know they come from a very tough conference and will be a very tough opponent," Indians coach Al Martin said of Hillsboro. "They have a good tradition and have always played a good, hard-nosed brand of football. Its a very tough first round draw. There were a few surprises in the bracket. We knew Hillsboro was a possibilty."

The Du Quoin/Hillsboro winner advances to face either Robinson (5-4) or third-seed Tolono Unity (9-0) in round two.

Hillsboro is a member of the South Central Conference- which sends six of its teams into the postpeason party. The Hilltoppers, coached by former Greenville mentor Aaron Duff, own wins over Roxana, East Alton-Wood River, Carlinville, Litchfield, Pana and Alton Marquette.

Losses cane at the hands of Piasa Southwestern (28-26), Greenville (36-3) and Vandalia (35-21).

<b>CLASS 3A FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS</b>

(Seeds precede school name)

<b>Upper Bracket</b>

#16 Piasa (Southwestern) (5-4) at #1 Greenville (9-0)

#9 Fairfield (7-2) at #8 Breese (Central) (7-2)

#13 Anna (A.-Jonesboro) (6-3) at #4 Carterville (8-1)

#12 Pana (H.S.) (6-3) at #5 Pittsfield [P.-Griggsville-Perry Coop] (8-1)

#15 Nashville (5-4) at #2 Sesser (S.-Valier) [Coop] (9-0)

#10 Decatur (St. Teresa) (7-2) at #7 Auburn (7-2)

#14 Robinson (5-4) at #3 Tolono (Unity) (9-0)

#11 Hillsboro (6-3) at #6 DuQuoin (H.S.) (8-1)

<b>Lower Bracket</b>

This bracket was seeded in two halves to reduce travel times.

#8 Riverton (6-3) at #1 Carthage (Illini West) (9-0)

#5 Camp Point (Central) [C.-Southeastern Coop] (7-2) at #4 Monticello (7-2)

#7 Braidwood (Reed-Custer) (6-3) at #2 Wilmington (9-0)

#6 Fithian (Oakwood) [O.-Armstrong-Potomac Coop] (6-3) at #3 St. Joseph (S.J.-Ogden) (7-2)

#8 Rockford (Christian Life) (5-4) at #1 Stillman Valley (9-0)

#5 Aurora (A. Christian) (6-3) at #4 Winnebago (7-2)

#7 Oregon (5-4) at #2 Rockford (R. Christian) (8-1)

#6 Sterling (Newman Central Catholic) (6-3) at #3 Sherrard (8-1)