This weekend marks the beginning of the end of the high school football season in Illinois.

The Illinois High School Association Football Playoffs are here. With each passing week, the weather will grow colder, the number of remaining teams will shrink and each game will increase with importance.

The season culminates with the state championship games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Nov. 28 and 29.

The Carbondale area will contribute its fair share of participants in the eight-class, 256-team playoff field. Here is a breakdown of how these teams got to where they are and how they stack up against the competition.

Class 4A is the deepest pool of area playoff teams. No. 1 Carterville, No. 3 Herrin and No. 6 Murphysboro all advanced out of the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference, with at least seven wins.

The 4A bracket also brings us perhaps the most compelling first-round pairing as Murphysboro (7-2) heads to Herrin (8-1).

This will be the second meeting between the Red Devils and the Tigers this season. Herrin won the first matchup 41-26 at Murphysboro on the strength of 4 rushing touchdowns by senior fullback Brent Milner.

The Red Devils outgained the Tigers in that game, 403 yards to 376 yards. Murphysboro head coach Gary Carter said the score of the week five game was closer than it showed.

“I think we just ran out of time,” Carter said.

Murphysboro High School is in the playoffs for the first time since 1996. The Red Devils suffered through four winless seasons during that span, and last year recorded its first winning season in 13 years.

Murphysboro averaged 42 points per game thanks to one of the deepest rushing attacks in the area. Junior Clay Rendleman led the Red Devils with 1058 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground in the regular season, but accounted for less than half of his team’s season total. Murphysboro’s stable of running backs includes five explosive ball carriers capable of breaking a big run, such as senior DaShon Battles, who averaged 14.2 yards per carry this season.

The Red Devils’ defense has been stout this year. Murphysboro forced 24 turnovers while allowing 15.7 points per game, tied for 10^th fewest of all 4A playoff teams.

Herrin enters the playoffs having won eight-straight games following a heartbreaking week one loss to Waterloo, which qualified for the class 5A playoffs.

This is the fifth consecutive year the Tigers have made the postseason and the 17^th time in school history.

Herrin’s running back depth rivals Murphysboro. Senior Chase Merrill has recorded back-to-back 1,000-yards seasons, and Milner is close to his second such season. Merrill and Milner have capable backups in junior Gavyn Gosha and senior Chase Butler.

The Tigers averaged 50.8 points per game, third amongst 4A playoff qualifiers. Six of Herrin’s eight wins have come by more than 40 points.

The playoffs will test Herrin, which only faced two teams that finished with winning records.

The winner of the Herrin-Murphysboro game will take on the winner of Columbia High School vs. Althoff Catholic High School.

Also in Class 4A, undefeated Carterville High School will host Mater Dei Catholic High School, which enters its 11^th straight postseason at 5-4.

The game will be the sixth straight road game for Mater Dei, which is an independent school.

The Knights made the playoffs on the strength of their passing game. Senior quarterback Sam Toennies threw for 2034 yards and 19 touchdowns in just eight games.

Toennies’s favorite target is junior Josh Haberer, who led the team with 47 receptions for 803 yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior Ben Lampe and junior Brendan Timmermann are also significant contributors to the passing game.

“They’ve got a good quarterback, a couple good receivers,” said Quincy Notre Dame High School head coach Bill Connell, whose Raiders defeated Mater Dei 29-26 on Oct. 3. “We ran the ball a lot to slow them down, and we were able to do what we wanted to do.”

Running the ball is something Carterville does well. The Lions utilized the read option en route to its second straight undefeated regular season.

Junior quarterback Blake Hicks led Carterville with 1,677 rushing yards. Senior running back Brayden Bisaillon, a converted guard, also ran for over 1,000 yards.

Although they are undefeated, the Lions are no stranger to close games. In weeks 4-6, Carterville had three games decided by seven points or fewer, including a hard-fought 9-8 win over Du Quoin High School in which it did not find the end zone.

The Lions are coming off their fifth perfect regular season under head coach Dennis Drust. Carterville has made the playoffs 19 times in the past 20 years.

The winner of Carterville-Mater Dei will face either Freeburg High School or Roxana High School in the second round. In order for Carterville to face Herrin or Murphysboro, each team would need to win its second round game.

Any 4A team with state championship hopes will likely have to go through Rockford Lutheran High School. The Crusaders lead all 4A teams with an average margin of victory of 44.1 and have done so while facing five other playoff teams.

Marion High School will represent the area, in the Class 5A playoffs.

Marion appeared to be in for a long season after an 0-2 start, but the Wildcats caught fire and never cooled down. Marion won each of its final seven games to earn a first-round home game against Waterloo.

This is Marion’s 10^th consecutive postseason appearance and the fourth straight year it has finished the regular season 7-2. The Wildcats have lost in the first round each of the last three years.

Marion used a fairly balanced offensive attack to average 35.7 points per game in the regular season, tied for fifth in the 5A playoff field.

The Wildcats had five different players rush for more than 100 yards on the season, led by junior Braden Ziegler, who amassed 917 yards on the ground.

Marion also had 5 players with over 100 yards receiving on the season. Junior Izak Baker threw for 1,026 yards and 13 touchdowns. Baker also ran for 374 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Waterloo will be a tough task for Marion. Waterloo is in its fourth playoff appearance in five years. The Bulldogs finished the regular season 6-3, but six of their opponents made the playoffs. Waterloo also defeated two teams that finished the season 8-1.

The good news for Marion is that Waterloo has lost its last 10 first-round games, dating back to 1995.

The winner of this game will face either Sacred Heart-Griffin High School from Springfield or Jerseyville High School.

Anna-Jonesboro High School snuck into the 3A playoffs at 5-4 with a 27-12 win over Benton High School in the final game of the regular season. The win extended the Wildcats’ run to 15 straight playoff appearances.

Despite going 0-3 against teams that finished with winning records, being outscored on the season and enduring a bullying incident that resulted in three players being removed from the team, A-J has the opportunity to win its first playoff game since 2011.

To do so, the Wildcats will have to defeat Mount Carmel High School, which enters the postseason at 7-2. The Aces have now made the playoffs 33 times in the last 35 years.

Mt. Carmel’s only two losses came to Mater Dei and Jasper High School in Jasper, Ind., which finished its regular season 9-1.

Sophomore running back Trevor Kinnard led the Aces with 1118 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Junior quarterback Pete Smith passed for 1403 yards and 13 touchdowns to balance the attack.

The winner of this game will go on to face Nashville High School or Vandalia High School.

Black Diamond Conference champion Johnston City High School enters the 2A playoffs at 8-1. Dan Mings’ Indians made their 13^th playoff appearance in 15 years.

Johnston City rebounded from a 3-6 finish last season to reclaim the conference title. The Indians went 3-1 against teams that finished above .500.

Johnston City’s first-round matchup is against 6-3 Eldorado. The Indians needed overtime to defeat the Eagles at Eldorado on Oct. 10.

Fairfield High School head coach Justin Townsend called Eldorado High School a good young team that likes to set up its passing game with its ground attack.

Either way this game shakes out, the second round will feature an all-Black Diamond matchup, as Chester High School and Carmi-White County High School face off on the other side of the bracket.

Johnston City’s lone loss of the season came to Carmi-White County, which finished 6-3. Chester’s only loss came to Johnston City.

Thomas can be reached at [email protected]