The “second season” begins next weekend for both local high school football teams, as both Kewanee and Annawan-Wethersfield will play their first-round games in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) football playoffs at home.
Kewanee, coming off an 8-1 season record, will host 5-4 Peoria Notre Dame Friday evening. Doors at the KHS Stadium will open at 5:30 p.m. and kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Kewanee is a No. 3 seed in Class 4A and PND is seeded 14.
Across town at Wethersfield Memorial Stadium, the Annawan-Wethersfield Titans will meet Deer Creek-Mackinaw at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Titans, 8-1 in the regular season, are a No. 4 seed in Class 1A, and 5-4 Dee-Mack is seeded 13th.
If they win Friday, the Boilermakers would play the winner of 11 seed Harrisburg (6-3) vs. 6 seed Carterville (7-2).
If the Titans win Saturday, they would face either 12 seed Fulton (6-3) or 5 seed Morrison (8-1).
Other playoff participants from the area:
— Undefeated Stark County, a 2 seed, will host 5-4 Lincoln Trail Conference foe Princeville, a 15 seed. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the game between another conference foe, ROWVA-Williamsfield, who finished 7-2 and is a 10 seed, and 7-seeded Sterling Newman, which finished 7-2.
— Princeton, the only team to beat Kewanee in the regular season and who also finished 8-1, is a 2 seed in Class 3A. They will host 15 seed Paxton Buckley-Loda in the first round. The winner of that game will face the winner of the game between 12 seed Oregon and 5 seed Pecatonica (Du-Pac co-op). Oregon is 5-4 and Pecatonica is 7-2.
