No. 9 Chester will travel to No. 8 Newton Friday October 23 for 7 p.m. kickoff
BY JIM BEERS
The 2026 IHSA Class 2A State Football Playoffs are entering Week 2 beginning Friday October 23. The 2026 State Tournament is entering a new era this year with 12 additional teams being added to the tournament in each of the eight classes.
In previous years, the tournament started a week later and included 32 teams. This year, the 2026 IHSA football season started a week earlier to allow the IHSA State Playoffs to start earlier to include an Opening Round that included 48 teams.
The tournament bracket is divided in two sections, a Northern top bracket and a Southern bottom bracket. The Northern bracket features teams from the Northern part of the state and the Southern bracket features teams from the southern portion of the state. All eight classes are treated the same.
In 2026 there are a total of 384 teams in the IHSA State Tournament. There are 48 teams in each class. There will be 47 games in each class for a total of 376 games. Each class features a six-round contest.
The “Opening Round” (October 23-24) featured 32 teams. The top-16 teams earned a “bye” in Week 1 (The Opening Round) Therefore the event began with 48 teams on the overall bracket. The Opening Round featured 8 games in the north and 8 games in the south. The 16 winners advanced to Week 2 to face the 16 top teams that had a bye in Week 1.
The “First Round” (October 30-31) in Week 2 features 32 teams who battle in 8 Northern Bracket games and 8 Southern Bracket games. The 16 winners in the Week 1 Opening Round faced the 16 teams that had a bye in Week 1. After Week 2 (the First Round), there were 16 teams remaining to advance to the “Sweet-16”.
Week 3 (November 6-7) features the remaining 16 teams in the “Second Round”. Those “Sweet-16” teams fight in eight games, four games in the north and four games in the south. The winners, eight teams, advance to Week 4 or the Quarter-Finals.
In Week 4, (November 13-14) “The Quarter-Finals”, there are eight teams left to vie for the championship. There are two games in the Northern Bracket and two games in the Southern Bracket. That leaves just 4 teams in the tournament to advance to the “Semi-Finals”.
Week 5 (November 20-21) is otherwise known as the “Semi-Finals”. This means only four teams are still in the competition. There is one game in the north and one game in the south. That leaves the final two teams to advance to the Week 6 Championship game.
The 2026 IHSA State Championship game takes place in the final week of the tournament. Week 6 (Friday November 27 at 10 a.m. at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois) features the top 2 teams in the tournament, the winner of the Northern Bracket and the winner of the Southern Bracket. The winner of this game is the 2026 IHSA State Champion.
The YellowJackets played in the Opening Round of the 2026 IHSA Class 2A State Tournament. The No. 9 Jackets (5-4) defeated the No. 24 Warriors (2-7) from Wesclin, 55-14. With the win, Chester advanced to Round 1 to face No. 8 Newton (6-3) who earned a bye in Week 1.
Here are other Opening Round scores:
Southern Bracket
(16) Carlinville 35 over (17) Riverton 28
(9) Chester 55 over (24) Wesclin 14
(13) DuQuoin 35 over (20) Christopher 0
(12) Hamilton County 38 over (21) Sangamon Valley 8
(15) St. Teresa 42 over (18) Piasa Southwestern 7
(10) Auburn 54 over (23) Routt 7
(14) Central A & M 48 over (19) Marshall 7
(22) Shelbyville 42 over (11) Carmi-White County 6
Northern Bracket
(17) Eastland-Pearl City 42 over (16) Beardstown 14
(9) Illini West 48 over (24) West Hancock 6
(13) Bismarck-Henning 51 over (20) Chicago-Marshall 14
(12) Farmington 22 over (21) Pleasant Plains 16
(15) Stillman Valley 32 over (18) Reed-Custer 31
(10) Warrensburg-Latham 42 over (23) Georgetown-Ridge Farm 19
(14) Winnebago 42 over (19) Elmwood-Brimfield 12
(22) Oregon 35 over (11) Westville 27
The Chester YellowJackets come into the First Round Game in Week 2 with an overall record of 6-4. They tied for the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division Championship with Sparta and Red Bud. All three had identical conference records of 4-1. The Jackets are seeded # 9 in the Southern Bracket. Chester’s Illinois Rank is 210.
The Newton Eagles had a bye in the Opening Round. They are seeded # 8 in the Southern Bracket. Their overall record is 6-3. In their Little Illini Conference, the Eagles finished 2nd with a record of 5-2. Their Illinois rank is 241.
Team comparisons are as follow:
Category CHS Newton
Rushing Yards 152.1 221.7
Passing Yards 177.5 176.3
Receiving Yards 177.5 197.7
Total Yards 329.6 398.0
Tackles 57.8 64.3
Sacks 1.4 2.2
Key Players
Rushing: CHS Alex Blechle 87.2 Newton Maddox Horner 102.8
Passing: CHS Alex Blechle 152 Newton Hayden Mulvey 134.6
Receiving: CHS TaShawn Palacio 94.5 Newton Quincy Fulton 74.1
Total Yards: CHS Alex Blechle 239.2 Newton 167.9
Tackles: CHS Kanon Jany 7.6 Newton Grayson Lingafelter 5.2
Sacks: CHS Brandon Korando 0.5 Newton Harrison Kinkade 0.4
Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday night October 30, 2026. The game is hosted by Newton. Newton is approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes from Chester. The winner of this First Round game will advance to the Week 3 “Sweet-16” “Second Round” game and play the winner of (1) Johnston City (9-0) and (16) Carlinville (5-5). The game can be seen on the HUDL Network, Facebook, and U-Tube.