L-W East Football: St. Charles East Is 1st Foe In 2018 Playoffs

FRANKFORT, IL — It's fitting that the state's high school football playoffs begin so close to Halloween because Lincoln-Way East has been a team that has given their opponents nightmares all season. The Griffins start their defense of their Class 8A state title Friday night as they host St. Charles East in the first round of the IHSA playoffs.

This year's L-W East squad has impressively picked up where the undefeated 2017 champions left off. In fact, the Griffins haven't lost a game since they dropped a 34-31 nail-biter to Maine South on Nov. 12, 2016, in the third-round of the playoffs.

Since then, the Frankfort team has gone 23-0 and dominated on both sides of the ball. The Griffins shut out opponents in five of their nine regular season games and have outscored teams 414-56.

RELATED: L-W East Vs. St. Charles East 2017: 3 Videos To Fire You Up On Gameday

One of the closest games for L-W East during this hot streak was last year's second-round playoff contest against St. Charles East. The Saints were up by two points with less than 30 seconds on the clock before the Griffins kicked a 25-yard field goal to win 15-14.

L-W East went on to win the state title, defeating Loyola Academy, 23-14. The Saints hope to flip the script on last year's game and give themselves a happy ending this season.

Lincoln-Way East (9-0) vs. St. Charles East (5-4): First Round of IHSA Playoffs

Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26

Where: Lincoln-Way East High School, 201 Colorado Ave., Frankfort

Weather: Cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain. Low around 41.

Rankings and Seedings: L-W East is ranked No. 1 and No. 54 in the country. The Griffins are seeded No. 2 in the Class 8A playoff bracket, behind only Brother Rice. St. Charles East is ranked No. 55 in the state and No. 1,476 in the country. The Saints are seeded No. 31. Go to the IHSA website for details about the 2018 football postseason.

Series History: L-W East leads 2-0. Along with last year's playoff game, the Griffins won an Aug. 31, 2007, meeting, 20-7.

Shut Down And Out: This red zone interception against Homewood-Flossmoor on Sept. 28 shows that L-W East isn't just a scoring machine — but they do plenty of that, too. The Griffins went three consecutive games without allowing another team to score. H-F broke that streak, scoring only six points in a losing effort. But L-W East was back at keeping teams off the scoreboard the next game, beating Lockport 63-0.

L-W East Players to Watch: Most high school teams feel lucky to have a single standout running back. The Griffins have three. Star junior running back A.J. Henning missed much of the season with a hip injury, but fellow junior Devon Williams filled that void to become the team rushing leader. Both players are healthy and ready to play, and even if the Saints can stop that tandem, the Griffins still have senior Jordan Corbett, who racked up 217 yards in the team's last game of the season.

St. Charles East Player to Watch: The Saints have explosive weapons on offense, too. Quarterback B.J. Crossen and fullback Justin Jett will need to have career games to pull off the upset Friday.

Images via Lincoln-Way East High School | St. Charles East High School